"Chicago Ed" passes at 62

[dxer720]

I just heard, this morning on WGN that "Chicago Ed" Schwartz died at 62. He had been in ill health for quite a few years. WGN said he was at a Waukegan nursing home.

Here is WGN's take:
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/longtime-wgn-radio-host-eddie-schwartz-dies.html

And this is from the Chicago Sun-Times:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/1412577,eddie-schwartz-chicago-radio-dies-020409.article

As a kid in Wisconsin, I remember listening to him on a transistor under my pillow, when he was still on WIND. I still listened through his WLUP days. He may not have had the best voice for radio, but he was always in touch with Chicago. If something happened in Chicago, Eddie had all the details.

He will be missed.

 

[jaymarvin]

I first met Ed when he was on WGN. Later he and I traded shots back and forth when he was on the Loop and I was on WLS. Ed and I had been emailing each other back and forth last year and the year before. He really was a good guy and will be missed by all of us in radio.

Jay Marvin
AM760
Denver, Colorado

 

[Ultimajock]

...the magic of Ed Schwartz was that he gave you the opportunity to hear a voice on the radio, in the deepest hours of the night, that actually sounded like someone you could imagine sitting next to in the bleachers at Wrigley Field one sunny afternoon. He was flesh and blood in the machine, at an hour when it was often desperately needed. He was humanity in an often inhumane medium. He'll be desperately missed...

 

[radiotower40]

I am very sad to hear of the passing of "Chicago Ed", It feels like losing a member of my family. I remember going to
his good neighbor food drives when he was with WGN. There will never be another like him. I feel so terrible about how
sick he was in the last few years. I was so happy when Dave Baum and others helped him out when he was sick and running
out of money, I never felt better about donating money in my life!

I would listen to him every night on WGN and then WLUP, and his show was so interesting that I lost a lot of sleep ;D.
Eddie knew virtually everything there was to know about Chicago. His Chicago history shows were the best! He truly
is one of kind and IS a true Chicago legend!

Rest In Peace, Eddie

 

[theharleyshow]

I used to keep really strange hours(still do)in the 70's, working sometimes several part time radio jobs at once. Chicago Ed was a constant on the radio in those early morning hours on WIND. I liked WIND when it was a music station(mostly Connie Szerszen's show....CONNIE STILL ROCKS!), but they played this odd mix of one or two songs an hour and this guy talking all night. Total entertainment, even the Wiffenpoof Song at 2am every day! In those days I was also a big WLS fan, but at 2 or 3 in the morning, I felt I might miss something if I didn't tune in to Ed. Eddie made sleep seem overrated. We'll never hear another like him.

 

[Blackroc]

I would have guessed he was older. I can remember him being on the NBC Tom Snyder "Tomorrow" show with a few other talk guys including Larry King before King was national. That was a while ago.
The days of a host like Eddie are long gone.

 

[snorlax]

Gosh, I thought this would have elicited some more response...or was it a case of out of sight (or hearing), out of mind? I am one of those individuals with a non-functional biological clock and enjoyed listening to Ed down here in Indianapolis. I just didn't respond to Steve & Johnnie as I did to Ed, so wound up switching over to some kind of sports...what was it then...one-on-one sports?
I am not in the radio business, but I am hard-pressed to think of a worse career move than his departure from WGN for WLUP. Was the story true about his departing over only a couple thousand dollars, or is that urban legend?

 

[dialredial]

For Ed Schwartz WIND fans, there are a few airchecks of Ed you can listen to online. Just google "ed schwartz talkzone"

 

[radioman148]

I thought Ed was at his best on WIND.