James Fabiano's Blurty

A goodbye, and a welcome back...

Sad news today for lovers of '80s cartoons...Len Carlson, best known as the voice of Bert Raccoon, has passed away at the age of 68. A friend called me this morning with the news, and this was quite an unpleasant surprise, to say the least. To the people who know me, it's no secret how big of a fan of The Raccoons I've always been. Since Bert was the character most people associate with the series and the very Raccoons mythos as a whole, well, it really felt like the end of an era. But as always, the memories and work will remain, which is a reason for some solace. That and I guess in the Evergreen Forest in the sky, Bert and Cedric (Marvin Goldhar) will finally be reunited, as will all three of the Pigs (Nick Nichols). Dottie West, who portrayed Melissa #2, will be there too, of course.

In happier news, New Jersey 101.5 is starting a new show, "Under the Boardwalk." They are apparently having a series of guest hosts for this, and Number One is going to be...

Yes, after 7 years, ROBERTA GALE is returning to NJ101.5! It will only be for a month, but great news nonetheless. For those of you not around me in the late '90s, I was totally obsessed with Roberta, who then had a regular slot on the 101.5 schedule. In reply to an email discussion about I think Christmas specials, I wound up sending her a copy of the one MAD TV episode I had/have on tape, with the Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer parody. In '98, I even got to meet her in person as part of a holiday promotion for the station at Freehold Racewall Mall. She left 101.5 I think sometime in the following year, but resurfaced a while after on 94.3 The Point for a while. Then she disappeared again, I believe moving to Arizona. And so the chapter on my love affair with Roberta and her show ended...until tomorrow night at 7! Even if you're not in the NJ area, you can listen on 101.5's website. Be there and see what the obsession is all about!