Farewell Friend

As someone who grew up listening to AM radio and wanting to one of those "voices in the aether", I was thrilled to get a weekly spot on WMRD-AM 1150 in November of 1996. Instead of spinning "stacks of wax", the subject was the world of Jewish music and "N'shomah" has been on the air just about every Sunday morning since then. Ed Henry, whose "Polish Melodies" celebrates 60 years(!!) on the local airwaves the first Sunday of 2010, was kind of enough to give up 1 of his 2 hours to accommodate this upstart.

One month later, a sharp-dressed fellow began his "Sounds of Italy" program right after my show. Raffaelo Valentino had been on the air at WNHU-FM in New Haven since 1969, was an active D.J. and just looking for another outlet for the music he loved. As befits the music "zealots" who work at small AM and FM station for little or no pay, Raff never missed a show and he showed tremendous taste in the selection. "Pop" songs mingled with folk songs,, the occasional classical tune, the Italian-language version of a standard or American Top 40 classic, all types of Italian music came across the airwaves. He saluted listeners on birthdays and anniversaries, created advertisements in Italian and English, always answered the phone when he could and never failed to replied to listeners' letters.

Sadly, Raff passed away Saturday September 26 after a shockingly short but courageous fight with cancer. It's so hard to believe that his friendly voice has been silenced, that this horrid disease has robbed us of a truly good community-minded person. Because his show was often shortened by broadcasts of sporting events, Raff had left a large number of show segments in the WMRD computer. This coming Sunday (October 4), the station will broadcast his final show from 12noon - 2 p.m. with tributes from his co-workers and the station management. Of course, there will be plenty of that delightful Italian music that he broadcast throughout the Connecticut River Valley down to Long Island Sound. We'll miss his smile and optimistic attitude. To read his obituary and a tribute from WMRD/WLIS owner & general manager Don DeCeasare, click here.