Johnny Lujack Has Passed Away At 98

[Ben Zonia]

Johnny Lujack, Notre Dame and Chicago Bears football standout, has passed away at 98. He was the inspiration for an Idaho DJ, the late Larry Blankenburg, to use the stage name Larry Lujack and come to Chicago at WLS.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... ck-dies-98

[radioandtventhusiast]

I've heard of the name Larry Lujack and wondered if he and Johnny were related. I had no idea Larry changed his last name for the football player. May he R.I.P.

[Ben Zonia]

Larry was majoring in Biology in college in Idaho, and had Summer jobs in Forestry Management, before getting a job at KCID. Before hearing about Johnny Lujack being his inspiration, I wondered if Lujack was a contraction of "Lumberjack".

After all, much stranger stage name stories have been told. For instance, John Records Landecker (real birth name) wanted to be a "Jones Boy" with a unique first name in 1966 at WTRX, so he chose "Dow Jones". He had used other stage names, but he stated that that was the only one he really liked, in his interviews and autobiography.