I really terrific friend, Chris Clausen passed away this week. He was a major guy in the voiceover biz across the country, heard in Boston on Channel 7 for 20+ years. Although Scott Chapin took over voicing for Channel 7 a few years ago Chris continued to this day as Channel 7's secondary voice. If you've ever watched Channel 7, you've heard him. He was at one time the youngest booth announcer at WBZ. Big. Deep baritone. Chris.
What also set him apart in a business of corporate mucky-mucks and big-time media weasels is that Chris was the opposite of those things. He would seek out young punks like myself and be a mentor. Our friendhip began when WHDH radio was in the channel 7 building and he walked right up to introduce himself, on his way to the Channel 7 booth. Even though he was 25+ years older we ended up talking on the phone weekly since 1991. Long ago when Chris first left the networks (CBS) in LA to start his own station-voice business he didn't know what gear to buy. He had a shoestring budget and was nervous about just surviving. Chris turned to one of the biggest of the big names (still is) for advice in what equipment to invest in. He had to get it right the first time. Not wanting competition, that guy intentionally misled Chris imto spending all on the complete wrong studio gear. Back then the equipment cost a FORTUNE so it almost ruined him. He would however, go on to be hugely successful, heard on TV stations everywhere. And, he would make sure he could properly help anyone else young and starting out. I was fortunate to be one of them. Chris immediately invited us to his home studio in Nahant to explain what not to get, and how best to get started. What a guy he was.
We spent endless amounts of money over the years experimenting with new studio equipment trying to find what sounds best for us, and when one of us discovered something good the other one instantly bought it. So we had essentially the same gear between his studio in Florida and mine in Boston or New York at all times. A few years ago I got him heavily into photography and he was quickly a master. It's a drag that I can't call my friend up per usual to talk Nikon and what's cool this week with Photoshop.
His former wife Caroline explains: Chris was born with a condition called an AVM. 1% of the population has it and by age 50 over 86% are dead. Chris never knew he had this. It is a faulty cluster of blood vessels. His was deep in his brain. If he had walked healthy into a neurosurgeons office they would not have been able to help him. He was like a ticking time bomb except he did not know it at all. He had a massive bleed last Tuesday while he was at work in the studio (Chris would have really liked it that way, he always envisioned working until he died). They airlifted him to Florida Hospital. The neurosurgeon tried to stop the bleeding to no avail. There was massive brain damage. Just like a stroke. He was paralyzed and never came out of the coma but if he had, he would not have been able to understand language or ever speak again. That part alone was very, very upsetting for us. We moved him out of ICU to hospice in Altemonte Springs were he died this Tuesday at noon. He died with his family around him.
Chris had a great life. He enjoyed, no better said, absolutely loved his work. He loved his family. It was a life well lived.
What also set him apart in a business of corporate mucky-mucks and big-time media weasels is that Chris was the opposite of those things. He would seek out young punks like myself and be a mentor. Our friendhip began when WHDH radio was in the channel 7 building and he walked right up to introduce himself, on his way to the Channel 7 booth. Even though he was 25+ years older we ended up talking on the phone weekly since 1991. Long ago when Chris first left the networks (CBS) in LA to start his own station-voice business he didn't know what gear to buy. He had a shoestring budget and was nervous about just surviving. Chris turned to one of the biggest of the big names (still is) for advice in what equipment to invest in. He had to get it right the first time. Not wanting competition, that guy intentionally misled Chris imto spending all on the complete wrong studio gear. Back then the equipment cost a FORTUNE so it almost ruined him. He would however, go on to be hugely successful, heard on TV stations everywhere. And, he would make sure he could properly help anyone else young and starting out. I was fortunate to be one of them. Chris immediately invited us to his home studio in Nahant to explain what not to get, and how best to get started. What a guy he was.
We spent endless amounts of money over the years experimenting with new studio equipment trying to find what sounds best for us, and when one of us discovered something good the other one instantly bought it. So we had essentially the same gear between his studio in Florida and mine in Boston or New York at all times. A few years ago I got him heavily into photography and he was quickly a master. It's a drag that I can't call my friend up per usual to talk Nikon and what's cool this week with Photoshop.
His former wife Caroline explains: Chris was born with a condition called an AVM. 1% of the population has it and by age 50 over 86% are dead. Chris never knew he had this. It is a faulty cluster of blood vessels. His was deep in his brain. If he had walked healthy into a neurosurgeons office they would not have been able to help him. He was like a ticking time bomb except he did not know it at all. He had a massive bleed last Tuesday while he was at work in the studio (Chris would have really liked it that way, he always envisioned working until he died). They airlifted him to Florida Hospital. The neurosurgeon tried to stop the bleeding to no avail. There was massive brain damage. Just like a stroke. He was paralyzed and never came out of the coma but if he had, he would not have been able to understand language or ever speak again. That part alone was very, very upsetting for us. We moved him out of ICU to hospice in Altemonte Springs were he died this Tuesday at noon. He died with his family around him.
Chris had a great life. He enjoyed, no better said, absolutely loved his work. He loved his family. It was a life well lived.
