Roy Leonard - RIP
This week, we lost one of the last true gentlemen of radio. Roy Leonard, a Radio Personality on WGN, was a man that I truly respected. There was a time when I wanted his job. Mr. Leonard was responsible for many years at WGN Radio for film reviews, theatre reviews, and restaurant reviews.
He essentially had the pulse of the City of Chicago and its surrounding areas. When I was little, I used to listen to his Saturday morning radio show on AM-720. I was thrilled by his vast knowledge of film and culture. One time, I tried to call the hotline to win a vinyl copy of The Empire Strikes Back, featuring the further adventures of Luke Skywalker. The trivia question was, "What color are Chewbacca's Eyes?" Unfortnuately, I was not the right caller.
In 1999, I had the extreme pleasure to be an intern at WGN Radio for the Bob Collins show. One of my assignments was to help find archival recordings from the vast WGN library for Roy Leonard. I never got to meet him personally, but it was an honor to accomplish this project for a radio personality I truly admired. There will never be another Roy Leonard.