I'm sorry to bring this up here, but actually, this is a fine example of a loving, intelligent, witty, caring man for whom I was privileged to work way back in 1979 - 1980.
John was a good friend of all the four Beatles, so I suppose this is UK related as well.

I developed a tremendous crush on John when I was 12. I had to sneak to listen to his radio show, since my bedtime was 9:30. But listen I did. There was something so mesmerizing about his voice, his style, his wit.

I sent him a fan letter, and he actually phoned me back and dedicated a song to me on the air: "Everything that Touches You" by the Association.

I met John at a Beatlefest years later, and I told him that I had wanted to go into broadcasting, had applied to and been accepted at his school, but I got pregnant by accident instead. He offered me a job at the school with the ultimate goal of going into radio - my true dream. Back in those days, women in radio were frowned upon, and I was constantly told that "girls don't go into radio".

All the best laid plans....I only did a few voice overs, and never became "The Voice of Philadelphia" as previously planned....LOL. My husband told me there was no way in HELL I could have a career. To be quite candid, he was jealous. Not of John ( a pure relationship), but that I could do something special with my life.

John had his own problems - he became bi-polar and eventually, he lost his school and his career.

I remember one day in particular - all the female staffers were buying new dresses. I went along to watch them, and fell in love with a certain dress myself - but I had no money and there was no chance I could get any money. My husband needed POT, fer chrissakes. I worked to pay the bills he would not.

The dress was on my desk in the afternoon - and even though John wouldn't admit to it, I knew he had purchased it for me. He was like that. So very generous. He wanted to help others and his life is a testimony to his desire. So many persons were touched by his loving guidance, his financial generosity.

In the end, the bi-polar did him in.

What I really want to convey is: If there is a person whom you need to thank - be it a teacher, an old pal, whomever - do not hesitate to do it and do it TODAY. Tomorrow may be too late.

It was for me.

John - my eternal gratitude and love.



http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/new...s/14643428.htm

Long John Wade, 66, 1960s 'boss jock'AUDIO: Listen to Long John Wade.
By Gayle Ronan Sims
Inquirer Staff Writer
Long John Wade (Carl Wehde), 66, a radio "boss jock" at WFIL-AM in Philadelphia during the rock-and-roll explosion in the 1960s and the only disc jockey to accompany the Beatles on their first U.S. tour, died of heart failure May 15 at his retirement home on Cape Cod.

When the Beatles traveled to New York in 1964 to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, Mr. Wade, who was working at nearby WDRC-AM in Hartford, Conn., snagged an interview with them and was invited to join the tour. For 35 days, 26 cities and 15,000 miles, Mr. Wade accompanied the Beatles on their ground-breaking tour.

Mr. Wade did live reports by phone with his brother, Don Wade, on WDRC-AM, which were sold to other stations across the country.

Mr. Wade developed a friendship with each of the Beatles. The temperamental John Lennon once punched Mr. Wade for asking what he said was an impertinent question, Mr. Wade's brother said.

They remained close. "Lennon invited Long John to join him and Yoko Ono for their infamous bed-in at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal in May 1969," his brother said.

Paul McCartney sketched a caricature of Mr. Wade with the nickname "The Fixer" on it.

"He was the fifth Beatle," said Larry Kane, the only radio newsman on the 1964 tour. "He really knew how to work them."

Mr. Wade was a radioholic from his childhood in New York. He ran the station at his prep school, New Hampshire School for Boys. After graduating in 1958, he worked for a series of radio stations while attending Boston University.

His first full-time job came in 1961, at WSPR-AM in Springfield, Mass., before joining his brother at WDRC.

In 1963, Mr. Wade married Rosemary Ward. The couple had twin daughters before divorcing in 1974.

He came to Philadelphia in 1966 to join WFIL.

He lived first in Upper Darby, then in Roxborough. He left WFIL in 1970 to start the American Academy of Broadcasting. The school, at Sixth and Chestnut Streets, closed in 1979. He worked at several stations while running the school.

"Long John was controversial and conversational. He knew what was important to young people during the time of Vietnam and racial unrest," Kane said. Mr. Wade would talk about those subjects on the air. "He was Howard Stern before Howard Stern. He traveled to the edge."

In 1979, Mr. Wade was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and gave up the school and broadcasting. Mr. Wade received treatment for his bipolar condition in a number of hospitals in California and Florida. He tried to study film in California, "but he went into mania again," his brother said.

"He was institutionalized several times," his brother said.

He settled in Cape Cod in 1993. In 1995, he had the first of a series of strokes that affected his speech.

In addition to his brother, Mr. Wade is survived by daughters Jennifer Luney and Stephanie Bass; four grandchildren; and another brother, Thomas Wehde.

A memorial service is being planned.

ONLINE EXTRA

Listen to the voice of Long John Wade via http://go.philly.com/longjohnwade


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