Bill Randle

1923 - 2004

It is impossible to capture the full picture of the multi-faceted

Bill Randle who has just passed away.

While most of us know him from his radio work as a deejay, his other

accomplishments were much more precious to him. He was a genuine scholar.

He believed that the accumulation of knowledge and diverse experiences was

what life was all about. He was a mesmerizing teacher, a collector, a pilot,

a racecar driver, author, successful lawyer and above all a prodigious reader.

He read constantly and he read everything. He was as familiar with classic

literature as he was with the latest music-biz gossip. His mind was truly

photographic and he had the uncanny ability to recall past events

 in precise, microscopic detail.

His greatest attribute, and the one I treasure the most, was his intense

loyalty to the people he cared about. In my own case, he decided independently

that I had the ability to teach; so he was relentless in pushing me to find a

teaching opportunity. I�m forever grateful that he was so persistent.

Bill�s detractors found it hard to believe that the same man who analyzed

complicated zoning cases for his clients could enjoy post-modern jazz and

polka parties with the same enthusiasm. It was his sense of adventure that led

him to pilot his helicopter to New York to catch dinner and a Broadway show

and fly back to Cleveland the same night to avoid staying in a hotel.

In summary, he was unique. It is quite possible that there will never

again be a personality as educated, as diverse and a deeply loyal as Bill Randle.

Norman Wain

(Norman Wain as owner of WIXY created another legend in the history

of Cleveland radio - jr)