Man, life can be shockingly short. Kidd Kraddick was only 53. As you become older, it just becomes more real, shockingly and mind-numbingly real. It’s so weird how instant death can be. I’m sure he had no idea when he woke up on Saturday morning that would be the last time he brushed his teeth or tie his shoes. But in a way, a well lived life and surprise death in its own kind of way, is beautiful and adds to a legend.
It was amazing how slow all the local media outlets were in posting Kidd Kraddick’s death. Twitter was the only place to get any of the news, and I knew it was legit when I saw other local radio personalities were sending their condolences. KDFW broke the story, and for over an hour they never updated their webpage, but they did have it on their Facebook page. I also noticed that all the other local newsites didn’t have anything even after 11:00 PM. And of course, Kraddick’s website crashed due to traffic.
I know he was in syndication and was well liked by celebrities, but I was surprised to see his death as one of the top stories on all the major news websites as well as TMZ, EW.com, and others..
His daughter replied to Mark Cuban’s tweet about her father’s death asking the tweet to be removed, twice. Here’s a screenshot in case the tweets gets deleted (second tweet. I wonder if he jumped the gun in reporting the death before the family wanted to release the statement, and judging from her tweets, she was in NYC when he passed.
If there’s one thing that listeners knew that Kidd loved, it was his daughter. He loved playing that clip of her singing Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer while taking a bath and often talked about that lovey dovey “Butterfly Kisses” song. I feel for his only daughter Caroline, and it breaks my heart he won’t be there on her wedding day. But this is also a charge for me to get more serious about my health for my kids.
Years ago I remember Kraddick irate on the radio when the local news stations were teasing a story in commercials about a long time morning local radio personality dying and how he was contacted by his daughter and friends fearing the worst. In case you were wondering, that disc jokey was John LaBella, and he was killed when the top part of a fork lift hit an overpass, which hit his car and killed him.
I haven’t listened to Kidd in years, but as I kid he was the main reason I listened to 97.1 KEGL FM. Eventually he moved away and then came back to the Dallas airwaves to 106.1 KISS FM where I was a loyal listener during high school until I had to move out of radio range and go to college. It wasn’t until my senior year in college that I found out his show was broadcasted on the Internet, which turned me into a giddy teenage girl. His show made one of my first remedial processing jobs bearable. I was one of those that listened to him when my alarm went off, had the radio on as I got ready in the bathroom and ate breakfast, listened to him on my commute to work, and timed it when he went to commercial to run from the car to my little cubical to catch the next segment. In those days he would sometimes go past 10:00 AM and that was just some great extra gravy.
It’s funny how much a radio personality can become a part of your life, as if they are an actual friend, as if you really know them. I remember the first few times I ran into a radio personality I listened to quite often and felt weird that they didn’t know me. And because morning radio personalities become such a routine in our weekday mornings, I feel for all the listeners that will have a major adjustment period, especially the kids and teens.
I really admired Kidd. He was fun and always positive, and gave so much of himself to others less fortunate by creating Kidd’s Kids and making that so much a part of his life. When you consider how successful that charity of his has become, is there another local radio or television personality that has done more to help others?
So weird that last week they had a bit in which each cast member would say to each other in their final moments on earth. WFAA posted the YouTube video of the bit on their website but eventually the video became private and unable to watch. But they did transcribe part of what he said in the bit.
When I worked in Las Colinas I used to walk over to his studio on my breaks to watch the show. Actually, it was through his show that I experienced the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
I once called into his Friday’s “Flush The Format” segment and requested James Brown’s “Living in America”. I then played the next month in “Flush the Format”.
Aneurysms sure are scary, and other than a crazy headache there’s no other obvious symptom.
KTVT posted a picture of him from the golf tournament in New Orleans that was taken before his death. It could be the very last picture taken of him alive.
Very late Friday night I told WifeGeeding we should make plans to go visit her brother in Georgetown. At the ungodly hour of 8:00 AM Saturday morning she woke me up to say we needed to hit the road to Georgetown because her brother said it would be a good day to visit.
I’ve written about how I love the scenery driving west of Forth Worth with the open fields and a great big sky, so I was thinking I ‘d see something similar driving south. The construction kind of killed all that, and between Dallas and Waco there seems to be nothing but a lot of junk yards and large industrial buildings.
On our way to Georgetown I spotted this guy driving over 80 mph in a minivan with a refrigerator strapped to the back.
I saw a Baylor billboard that predominately displayed Ken Starr which made me cringe a little.
The Baylor football stadium looks like it will be really nice, and the way it’s being built, that is, deep field with enclosed tall/steep walls, it has the potential to be very loud. But I guess that’s only if they are able to sell that thing out, which I guess should be a problem in the near future.
On the way back home WifeGeeding demanded we eat at the Health Camp, which despite its name, isn’t healthy.
I never noticed the large Confederate flag flying next to I35 in Waco until this trip, but it certainly stood out. Here’s more about it if you are interested.
I’ve become a Harbor Freight customer, and I’m turning into a fan with the cheap prices. I think I’m about to buy a large air compressor.
I could easily write a ten page paper on the annoyances of Johnny Manziel, but him going to a frat party in Austin wouldn’t be included in it.
If you are a ‘Family Guy’ fan, here’s some shocking news, one of the Griffins will die and be replaced. YouTube Surely it’s Meg as the actress that does her voice is quite the rising star.
Are you aware of the story of Barre Cox/James Simmons? Cox was a Church of Christ minister, married with a one-year old daughter when he disappeared in 1984. He had been the camp director of the Christian summer youth camp I attended a few years earlier. He resurfaced 16 years later as James Simmons, the pastor of White Rock Community Church in Dallas. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/us/dallas-pasto…
Both my husband and I have woken up to Kidd Kraddick for the past 13 years. Such a GREAT guy who did GREAT things for many others.
When I first read the news, I was immediately angry someone would spread a nasty rumor like that. But, it was shocking enough to log into Twitter to see what was up. It took most of Sunday to absorb the news. It really shakes you up and realize that I I, too, may not have that much time here either. What do I want to do with my time and my family? That introspective look really has been consuming my thoughts since.
Are you aware of the story of Barre Cox/James Simmons? Cox was a Church of Christ minister, married with a one-year old daughter when he disappeared in 1984. He had been the camp director of the Christian summer youth camp I attended a few years earlier. He resurfaced 16 years later as James Simmons, the pastor of White Rock Community Church in Dallas. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/us/dallas-pasto…
Are you aware of the story of Barre Cox/James Simmons? Cox was a Church of Christ minister, married with a one-year old daughter when he disappeared in 1984. He had been the camp director of the Christian summer youth camp I attended a few years earlier. He resurfaced 16 years later as James Simmons, the pastor of White Rock Community Church in Dallas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/us/dallas-pasto…
Both my husband and I have woken up to Kidd Kraddick for the past 13 years. Such a GREAT guy who did GREAT things for many others.
When I first read the news, I was immediately angry someone would spread a nasty rumor like that. But, it was shocking enough to log into Twitter to see what was up. It took most of Sunday to absorb the news. It really shakes you up and realize that I I, too, may not have that much time here either. What do I want to do with my time and my family? That introspective look really has been consuming my thoughts since.
Are you aware of the story of Barre Cox/James Simmons? Cox was a Church of Christ minister, married with a one-year old daughter when he disappeared in 1984. He had been the camp director of the Christian summer youth camp I attended a few years earlier. He resurfaced 16 years later as James Simmons, the pastor of White Rock Community Church in Dallas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/us/dallas-pasto…
That story does ring a bell. I think I saw an old Dateline on it.