John Eastman Passes

[FiveStar]

John Eastman has passed away at the age of 79. John was one of the pioneers of talk radio in the Tampa Bay market with WDAE, WNSI and WPLP, as well as a good run on TV. He was one of the best at the old fashioned style of guest driven talk radio, interviewing celebrities, charlatans, show biz stars and has-beens and other people who might be able to fill an hour or so with pleasant and informative conversation before that style was pushed aside in favor of the raw meat, confrontational, host/caller dynamic that drives today's talk radio. He became known as "The Dean of Tampa Bay Talk Radio". Eventually a life time of smoking caught up with him, but he did live long enough to collect a multi million dollar jury award from the tobacco industry, which enabled him to live out his remaining years in relative comfort.

Amazing how many of the hosts who made WPLP a serious player in the Tampa Bay Radio market are gone: David Fowler, Bob Lassiter, Tim Coles, Harry D. Cup, Jack Wheeler, Rick Marron and now John Eastman. Rest in peace John. Those of us who worked with you and enjoyed listening to you.

You can find his obit in today's (May 6) TBO.com

 

[MisterNews]

I did not know Mr. Eastman, having arrived in this market in late-1995, but I certainly echo your sentiments about the decline of talk radio. I remember board-oping shows like Bruce Williams & Sally Jesse Raphael back in the early 80's, and how you could listen for hours at a time, really connect with the hosts and callers, and how so many radio talk shows were interesting, instructive, or just plain unusual. Jean Shepherd anyone? Now it's all a maelstrom of visceral hate-radio, celebrity gossip, and confrontation. Another reason the general populace has slowly but surely soured on the whole medium....

Folks like John Eastman are an anachronism now. It is just plain tragic how the bankers and profiteers ("How's our stock price today?" was Mark Mays only question to me while touring his newly-acquired Tampa stations in 1999) have choked the life out of what was a creative, fun, and useful industry. :'(

 

[smedge2006]

To understand John Eastman's role in Tampa Bay talk radio, a little context is necessary.

"I was brought in to cool off a hot guy", Eastman once told a newspaper interviewer during his first local gig at WDAE. He hosted a nighttime talk show on what could be called a full-service station -- middle of the road music in the daytime, sports talk at dinnertime and then general "two-way" talk for four hours at night. The previous host of that slot -- Stan Major -- did a show that was "controversial" for the time. Major was local to a degree that would be unimaginable today -- spending a lot of time on issues like the murder of a Tampa police detective, attacking the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office, and saying things that upset a lot of prominent local families -- including the ones that would be considered cousins of the Sopranos. (Major was also the first to use the phrase "Talk of Tampa Bay".) There was NO conception of "shtick" back then by the listeners, people took talk radio VERY seriously. WDAE abruptly fired Major even though his show was catching fire and was a constant topic of conversation -- at 8 p.m.! -- and began looking for replacements.

Eastman was not the first choice -- that was apparently Gil Gross, who later had a national show and is now out on the west coast -- but Gross had only guest hosted as a favor and had no idea he was being auditioned, and quickly turned down the gig. Eastman kept Major's numbers, probably because the only other talk radio available in the market at the time was Open Line in the mornings on WGUL, Dennis Crandall on WTAN, and Bob Snyder hawking gold and apocalypse on WDCL. When the trio that bought WPLP arrived in 1978, Eastman was the obvious choice to give their tiny station in the swamp a measure of instant credibility.

Eastman was not Paul Gonzalez -- whose devil's advocate, what do YOU think approach was way too predictable -- but he never raised his voice to a caller or a guest. He would express his disagreements by seeming to psychoanalyze the caller. "I hear great anger in your voice." His style was deliberate, he knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it, just as much as a Lassiter or any other master of the medium. His words were always carefully chosen, as though he were trying to calm down a snorting bull by herding it down a meandering path and confusing it. While avoiding direct confrontation, I always got the feeling that he was quietly patronizing toward some of his callers.

Perhaps a certain Jeff L could weigh on this...

 

[jaymarvin]

I worked with John at WTKN. He was a great guy. Smart, and knew how to interview guests on the radio. The alst time I saw him had to be 19 years ago when WTKN went under. He was also a great writer. Always working on screen plays. I was lucky to work with him. WTKN was a awful station. But working with him was a real treat.

Jay Marvin
AM760 Progressive Talk
Denver/Boulder. CO

 

[jefflaurence]

Wow..sad news. And a lot of memories from the old WDAE building at 101 Tampa St. The town had a different glow then in 1978. The watering hole was "The Turf" sitting diagonally accross the block from the old white building. There was Mr Lum's old "Chop Suey" neon sign that pointed to the Maas Brother's parking garage when they had a store there. The WDAE-TV tower later FM101, W-101, JOY, etc.. was the main thing you saw as you drove downtown. Stan Major used to have his board op go out and start his car for him.."just in case" Later he put pebbles from the street on the hood of his car..and if they had been moved he would take a cab home. Stan was an odd duck, but the Talk of Tampa Bay was one of th few remaining shows that people sat down to actually LISTEN to.

John Eastman brought a sense of academia to the Tampa talk scene. He was more intellectual than his predicessor of course, but he had a ribard side to him that made him appealing not only to the people who were "in the know" but just as much to the occasional listener. He had regular callers, but didn't rely on them. His guests were compelling, and topical, and he made good use of his producer Suzanne Boots who later took the show over after he left the station. There was (before computers) an innovative way to cue John as to the nature of a caller's subject. There was an old black and white TV camera mounted facing down on the control room desk..when Suzanne screened the call she scribbled the caller's name and the topic..along with the line they were on and put it under the camera..in the talk studio there was a B&W monitor that displayed the information and John was able to take calls based on the information he got from that TV. You don;t want to know some of the things that were placed under that camera that got John's attention more than once!

I remember he wrote a movie screenplay called "Rooster" I think it was actually produced, but I can't find it listed anywhere.

John was always "holding court" somewhere..he didn't just arrive and have a meal..it was always an event..and if you were invited to join him you knew you were in a special place.

Another innovator gone. John..more people respected and liked you than you ever knew.