Spoiler : Back in the 60's I listen to Jean as often as I could. He told some amazing stories. He had a way of starting a story which reminded him of another one which reminded him of another one and finally three hours later he would get back to the first one. One I remember was about playing minor league baseball in the middle of August in the middle of nowhere. He was one of the best.

Spoiler : Me definitely. I listened to him in the late 60's early 70's while I was in high school outside Philadelphia.

Spoiler : Between the ages of 12-15, I would keep a transistor radio under my pillow (his show was past my bedtime) and listen to Jean and always enjoyed his stories. Question: In which show did he describe a weekend pass to NYC, and was taken by young pool sharks in a bowling alley off Broadway?

Spoiler : Shep never let facts mess up a good story and planted the suspicion that good writers never do - He may have been a touch too sexist and homophobic for our time but he was one hell of an influence on teens of his/our time Seldom cited is his mentorship in literature: Don Marquis, Robert W. Service, Sax Romer, Hugh D'Arcy, George Ade, W.S. Gilbert - This is to say nothing of the interesting music that he seldom identified but was later footnoted by a kind supporter. How else could I have happened on the Dixieland Jug Blowers and the entrancing Bird's Lament? In his later years he disavowed radio and youth but both forces formed his fame and legend

Spoiler : As a kid in my Ann Arbor bedroom in winter, used to DX him from WOR in New York witha loop antenna made of 75 ohm flat lead wrapped around the roofline. Heard all those stories.

Spoiler : Count me as a fan.

Spoiler : Jean Parker Shepherd was born July 26, 1921, and he died October 16, 1999 of natural causes on Sanibel Island, Florida. He was a radio and TV personality, writer and actor who was often referred to by the nickname Shep. While his career spanned decades, Shepherd is best-known to modern audiences for narrating the film A Christmas Story (1983), which he co-wrote, that was based on his own semi-autobiographical stories.