Let me preface this by saying: I’m no starfucker. My ego isn’t starved for attention where I need to go out of my way and get my photo taken with every celebrity I meet just to post it online so people can see how cool I think I am. I would much rather enjoy a wonderful quiet moment than mount a head on my wall as a trophy of my latest ‘kill’.

Since my dad has been in the entertainment industry for so long, I’ve had many memorable celebrity experiences in my life. Each one doesn’t need to be documented for proof to make feel like one of the chosen ones.

For example, here’s me back in the day with Elvis:

What? I’m not gonna brag about it or anything, but there ya go.

All Hollywood and L.A. attitudes aside, one of my most fondest celebrity moments ever was getting the opportunity to meet George Carlin backstage at Gibson (Universal) Amphitheatre with my wife (fianceé at the time) in October 2007.

Everyone was milling around a small, furnished, dimly lit room with a fireplace. It was filled to capacity with a lot of older folks that looked to be around, if not close, to George’s age. For a while I thought we were in the wrong room and stumbled into a retiree comity meeting in Del Boca Vista.

My wife and I found our way inside the room and staked a claim near a couch, we got some stares – mainly because we were half the age of everyone there. George had just entered rehab for substance abuse problems a few months before the show; I knew in the back of my mind that this was going to be the one of the last opportunities I would ever get to shake his hand.

George quietly emerged through a door in the back of the room after an hour of everyone waiting patiently for him. He remained unguarded and took his time with every single handshake, slowly greeting people around the room. He would spend a minute or two with everyone, listening and cracking an old man joke every other minute. Every pair of eyes were on him in this small room, some flashbulbs here and there. The room would quiet down when he would speak up and project his voice to the small crowd of 50, “I’ve known this guy right here since I was 5 years old! We grew up together on West 121st Street and he still busts my balls!”. Another notable comment from George was, “Can you believe this guy? My brother, this old fart, he’s older than I am and looks half my age! Don’t do drugs kids!”.

The closer he got to my wife and I, the more his face and body language revealed the hard life he lived. He was 69 and looked to be about 89 in person.

I finally found my opportunity to bounce into the crowd of people around him and extend my hand. It was a surreal experience, but I remember telling him how much of an honor it was to meet him and how thankful I was that my dad was able to provide this opportunity I will remember for the rest of my life. He was touched by my comment and asked how I enjoyed the show then reveled in my dad’s radio name, Charlie Tuna. “Wow what a guy, a legend. Tell him I said hello would ya?”.

I never got a photo.

That minute I had with George was greater than any still frame I could ever write a caption to.

This may seem a little short sited, but I don’t have a lot of time and I’ve neglected this site for too long.

All my life I’ve been lead to believe that dreams could be achieved, records could be broken, and anything is possible. My dad got his first record player at the age of two. Now he’s being inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

Back when I was five, my parents purchased my first instrument; drums. Wasn’t too difficult for a little kid to bang on stuff, I was pretty much doing that anyways with the pots and pans. We had a studio piano in the house that my brother would frequent, I tought myself how to play and found decent melodies and wrote short songs that were never recorded. When I hit thirteen I picked up my brother’s acoustic guitar and knew that this was the instrument for me.

I always thought that I would drop out of high school and be a successful musician or something. I had no idea how the music industry as we knew it would change and how the evolution of distribution would be so accessible. I always knew that the internet would be the easiest and fastest way to deliver that content, but didn’t know to what extent. I’m glad I didn’t become successful when I wanted to. I’m happy to know that I dodged a storm that could’ve sent me adrift into financial ruin.

I just want to congratulate my dad on living the dream and leading by example. He has always strived for greatness and worked hard for everything he has to offer. He is and will always be an amazing person, radio legend, and father.