We lost a great voice on the air last weekend with the death of Jim McKay. He was a gentleman of the airwaves in radio and television. I will never forget, no one who heard it will ever forget, Jim McKay’s broadcast during the 1972 Munich Olympics when the Israeli athletes were kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian terrorists. He was off that day, but came in, and in his gentle, deeply human manner walked the world through the terror and impending tragedy of that moment.
I remember being so deeply moved by him and I remember my joyful anticipation almost exactly ten years ago, on May 29th, 1998, as I was about to interview him for the first time. He was as unassuming in person as he was humble on the air. What a lovely human being he was. We did not stay in close touch but we talked from time to time.
His life has a lot to teach us about how to behave on the air and as human beings. He was a Baltimorean and a Marylander.
He loved his family, his horse and his work. We will miss him. Our sympathies go out to all in his family.
-marc
