Wingy

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In a world of fakes, frauds, AI bots, and social
media pretending to be a news source. We are blessed
for today we have a moment to celebrate somebody so real,
so genuine, so authentic, so himself we may consider putting
a redfeld rope around him. The day is coming when
the Dave wingereds among us will be permanent museum exhibits,

(00:23):
But not today. Dave fifty five years, a lovable radio
ballet dancer, went into the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame
last night, led the class of twenty twenty five. He
is now in the same room with Johnny Carson, Floyd
Colbert Todd Stor's Tom brocow Dick Cabot, richly deserving for
his apex was quite tall gigs in Omahad Des Moines, Seattle.

(00:47):
He did a national syndicated show, plus two TV shows
and a memorable and many memorable appearances on stage. Beyond
the air, he has lent his three D personality to
a local call, principally the Community Playhouse, Blue Barn Theater
and the Salvation Army. He's been fired as many times
as hired, which for those of us inclined to provide

(01:10):
infotainment for a living qualifies Dave as a tortured artist. Wingy,
as he is charmingly referenced, is truly one of a kind.
His life got off to a bad start on the
day he was born. His father took one look at him,
went home and killed himself. Little did Wingert the name
of a stepfather, a Pittsburgh dry cleaner. No, but his

(01:32):
natural father did leave behind two things for his son,
a talent for radio and genetic depression. Get to that
last one in a minute. But those of us who've
watched him and listened all these years, it's clear Wingered
is more actor than radio. And when Dave first heard
the roar of the crowd following a recitation of a
memorized poem in second grade, his pathway of life was decided.

(01:58):
Ditched the clarinet in Junie Ye High for the choir
so he could be the lead in the school musical, which,
of course he was. Great actors inspired Dave to embrace
the intimacy of both the stage and the medium comes
out every day. Great radio is about timing, restraint, authenticity,
and the courage to be you and appreciate the me.

(02:19):
On the other end, when we do both the barriers
come down. Dave wingerd is a master craftsman in that area.
His fidelity to the real Dave requires bravery, which allowed
him to be one of the first openly homosexual local
radio and television performers in the country years ago, at
a time when it wasn't hip. Being gay was risky

(02:42):
in an industry then largely family owned. So he bounced around,
but always upward, and is willing to share that with
his loyal audience each day between sing along songs and
deeply personal self help segments. His daily struggle nearly led
him to file in his father's footsteps. Twenty fourteen, he'd

(03:03):
been fired again. It was the holidays. His role in
a Christmas story was wrapping at the playhouse. Out of money,
forced to sell his home, Dave began writing goodbye letters
to friends. He couldn't finish. It just wasn't Dave. So
He's soldiered on, strengthened by the moment when death was

(03:23):
actually near for Dave Wingered. November twenty sixth, nineteen seventy seven,
at the height of his popularity, Wingert was hosting comedy
Night at Omaha's Club eighty nine a thirty two year
old schizophrenic Vietnam War veteran Ulysses Cribbs, walked in with
a shotgun sprayed six rounds into the crowd of two hundred,

(03:44):
killing one, blinding another, and wounding twenty five, including Dave.
The near miss was cathartic. It tested, but renewed his
faith in the power of all the loving relationships with
which his life is endowed. That and the years have
finally put him at ease. People do like him. He's good.
He doesn't question himself, his loves, his friends, his sexuality,

(04:07):
any of his choices. Wingert, the radio, the stage, and
the community is one big, happy family. No secrets, no heirs,
just everybody being themselves. Know anybody else like that? Me?
Neither