Goodnight and Farewell, Reverend Ron

Earlier today I heard that Calgary community radio station CJSW (my good friends and family), lost one of their most iconic voices in the Reverend Ron, long-running host of The Blues Witness. Reverend Ron was a fixture during my time at the Station, from 1994-2003, and for the last few years I had the good pleasure of of hosting on Wednesday evenings from 4:00 - 6:00 PM, just prior to the Blues Witness. Ron and I saw eye to eye on a lot theories about radio, despite some of the curmudgeonly airs he would sometimes put on. At heart, Ron believed in music and he believed in people. He believed in both very strongly, and would often aggravate people who wanted the one without the other. But that was the point. Radio and music ought to be of the people, and Ron was never afraid to remind us of that.

Somewhere tonight, we know that the Reverend Ron has his own spot in the Church of Get Down Choir he so often celebrated.