Post
by Momo » Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:03 am
Ron's rendezvous with history:
Notorious for losing countless contact numbers of potential guests, these were digits Ron knew he could not lose. Not to the motel housekeeper or to anyone else. For that potential guest was none other than the then-most famous woman in the world, Jacqueline Kennedy.
The very private Mrs. Kennedy had long resisted pressure to publicly give an account of the events in Dallas. The prospect of a televised spectacular, with millions of eyeballs focused on her every agonized utterance, was too overwhelming to contemplate. But she was persuaded that a quieter, understated radio talk would be less invasive. So the idea of submitting to a radio interview in the hinterland (this was before flyover country was a term) was born. But to whom?
Following a nationwide search, Jackie's coterie of advisors settled on an intrepid young Detroit sports talk show radio host. Nicknamed "Scoop" or "R Sizzle," an Everyman of sorts, he was a middle school dropout who, when he wasn't ensconced in his elegantly appointed apartment at the Waldorf Astoria, lived in a succession of Detroit-area flophouses. And so the little-known Ron Cameron, who boasted of a majority female audience for his brokered show, was the choice for what was being billed as the "interview of the century."
Basking in congratulatory telegrams from near and far, Ron was allowing himself to dream big. He was certain this "get" would springboard him to a ticket directly into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. A book deal was also in reach, not to mention an increase in the demand for and price of his autograph. Even having his own can opener now seemed a possibility.
The historic moment had arrived, but first Ron had to attend to housekeeping matters, from giving out the station's phone number for the "fans," to announcing his on-air schedule and reading ad copy. Among others, Ron's list of sponsors included Larry Flynt's Gentleman's Club. He then went through a parade of future show guests like Mrs. William McKinley and Bob Delaney, a former NBA referee who had written a book about “putting away the Mob.” He also talked up his plans to open a new restaurant, either a pizza place or a deli (with the "famous Sy Ginsberg corned beef!"). Expect an announcement next week, he informed his rapt audience.
Mentioning that Jackie Kennedy was "a big fan" of his, Ron at last welcomed his guest to Sports Talk. Is it "miss or missus,” he inquired. Taken aback, Mrs. Kennedy, in her intimate, whispery voice, intoned, "This is Mrs. John F. Kennedy." In response, Ron, first informing his listeners that he had never met the slain president, shared a story about where he was on November 22, 1963. He told Mrs. Kennedy about how, as an 18-year old hanger-on, he was then following the Detroit Pistons on their out-of-town schedule and managed to meet up with then-player Ray Scott and how they together navigated that tragic time. "And," he gloated, "we've been friends ever since.” (Only years later learning, though, that Ray was married; at that point for over 50 years.) As an aside, he couldn’t resist adding that Ray Scott agrees with him that Wilt Chamberlain is "by far" the best NBA player of all time.
Turning his attention back to his guest, Ron asked Mrs. Kennedy where she was on November 22, 1963. Bewildered, Jackie paused before she finally began to address her painful memories. She first remembered the throngs of admiring supporters lining the parade route. And a sun so blinding that she had donned her oversized sunglasses until, in what would ultimately be his last request of her, the president asked that she remove them so the people of Dallas could better see her. Her voice faltered slightly when she started to recount hearing a loud shot ring out before turning and then seeing "President Kennedy clutch at his throat." Ron ("I don't mean to interrupt you") interrupted the narrative to admonish the former First Lady:
"You don't have to say 'President Kennedy.' Everyone knows it wasn't
another president. All you have to say is 'the president.'"
In the face of silence again from the slack-jawed Jackie, Ron brought up his own experience with loss, the death of a former roommate, the major league pitcher, Cory Lidle, who crashed his plane into a building Ron said was the World Trade Center. He described how devastated he was by the news, a loss from which he doesn’t think he will ever recover.
Loath to ever keep a caller on hold, Ron then took a call from Kurt from Fraser, a first-time caller, who, chuckling as he spoke, asked Mrs. Kennedy if the president had ever met the John Kennedy who played for the Washington Senators during their White House years. And, he chortled, they even had the same birthday, May 29. There was no answer.
Undeterred, Kurt expanded on this concept, exhaustively going from position to position on the baseball diamond and assigning presidential names to each. After hearing Kurt's catcher selection, Ron gleefully said to not forget the old Red Sox battery of "Ike and Nixon," pitcher Ike Delock and catcher Russ Nixon. Kurt repeated Delock's name, mispronouncing it, prompting an immediate response from Ron, who seemed to relish the opportunity to correct Kurt before abruptly ending the call, saying he was late for a break.
Ron read some more commercials, including one for a French restaurant known for its “day old scallops,” and repeating his future scheduled guests, the station phone number and his upcoming schedule.
The next caller, who very briefly weighed in, was a youngster, calling himself "Master Positive," who offered some pithy life-affirming aphorisms for both Mrs. Kennedy and the listening audience. With no other callers in the queue, not Cowboy from Windsor, not Gutterball Tony from Detroit, not JJ from Trenton, not Rob from Canton, Ron then read from his “insurance company" questions. First up was a caller he identified as "Glenn in Ypsilanti." "Ron, did you ever meet President Kennedy?" As that very question had already been addressed, Ron, almost apologetically, explained that the insurance company callers aren't allowed to call in during the show, only before, so this caller wouldn't have known that he had previously said that he didn't know the slain president.
Struggling in vain now to suppress a yawn, Ron then asked his guest what her greatest thrill was as First Lady. As Mrs. Kennedy remained silent, Ron's beleaguered young producer, who, on just the first leg on what would prove to be a distinguished, far-reaching career, jumped in, gamely trying to focus Ron on the central purpose of the interview, that is, to provide Jackie a forum to give her first-hand account of the assassination. Ron, however, wasn't brooking any interference. “This is MY show," he clapped back, "don't come in on me.” The producer, whose later best-selling autobiography would include a chapter - "The Fire of a Thousand Suns" - devoted entirely to Ron, could be heard figuratively throwing his hands up in the air in frustration as he reminded Ron of how, through sheer serendipity, this opportunity of a lifetime had landed in his lap. This, though, only served to further enrage Ron. "Get out," he thundered.
Taking just a brief moment to regain his composure, Ron then asked Mrs. Kennedy if she always wanted to be a first lady. In the face now of unmistakably dead air, Ron, nervously laughing, uneasily concluded that Jackie must have left. Pointing out that she was a smoker, he hoped that she was alright. “Folks," he sermonized, "when you smoke, you croak.” Ron lamented that he hadn't had the chance to ask his guest if, while in Dallas, she ever got to meet Lee Harvey Oswald, her husband's accused assassin.
Ron summarized the interview by noting that Jackie Kennedy, a "great woman," had done "a good job" and he was going to try to have her on again next year. For her part, Mrs. Kennedy, who never again spoke for attribution about her husband's assassination, summarily dismissed all staff responsible for scheduling this event.
Stating that there was "so much to talk about," Ron casually brushed aside any disappointment over the aborted interview. True to his word, he then spent the rest of the show glorifying the past; noting all who idolize him; hating on other broadcasters; attacking athletes who have slighted him; unceasingly defending game officials; genuflecting at the altar of those local teams whose management deign to appear on his show, while reflexively opposing the others; raising all the instances in which he was the last person to see or talk to various deceased sports figures; asking "Match Game" questions; recalling his efforts to fix Rob Parker up with RuPaul; and advancing RonAnon beliefs about Bea Arthur and Cal Ripken, Jr.
And so came to an end a very special edition of Sports Talk with Ron Cameron.