I would like to thank John Palmer and the folks at WHKRADIO for linking to this site.
John did a great Gary Dee tribute show on October 31, 2007
Many thanks go out to "lynnpuskas" a user name on "http://www.cleveland.com/forums/music/"
Listening Party Forum for plugging this site.(I enjoyed the recent Gary Dee threads there)
I have created a special Gary Dee Update Page to keep you informed on additions to this site.
A TRIBUTE TO GARY DEE (GILBERT) 1935-1995
"Giv'em Steel!!"
The paragraphs below
were written by me back in 1997 when I first put up this tribute site.
While some of the statements are out of date:
(I.E. Winning Cleveland Indians, and The Flats comments),
The comments about Gary Dee ring true today, just as strong as they did that
February day in 1972.
The most dynamic radio personality ever to grace the air waves of Cleveland, Ohio was Gary Dee.
Gary Dee was a master at stirring up controversy, yet he did it with humor. Gary's rapport with his listeners was unheralded. His favorite topics were religion, race, and politics.
I remember Gary Dee's first radio program. It was on February 14, 1972, and was referred to as The St. Valentines Day Massacre. I was in high school electronics class. We were asked to bring in some type of broken electronic equipment and then repair it. I brought in a radio and after a simple fix, I turned the radio on. The radio just happened to be tuned to WERE 1300 AM. The shouting and screaming came blaring out of the radio, and soon the entire class was in front of the radio laughing at the antics of Gary Dee and his listeners. I worked at "repairing" that radio for many weeks to follow.
In 1972 Cleveland was a national joke. Nobody wanted to live here. Downtown was a deserted wasteland after 6 PM. Gary Dee sought to change Cleveland's image. Much work still had to be done, and Gary Dee was the man to do it.
Today, when you visit Cleveland, you see new skyscrapers, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, The WINNING Cleveland Indians at their new baseball park Jacob's Field, You visit The "Flats" area on the waterfront with their many fine establishments and where the "Riverfest" and parade of boats is held each year.
Today, politicians, preachers, and ethnic leaders are all quick to take credit for Clevelands revival. Few, if any mention Gary Dee , so I thought I should. Thanks Gary, and if God has a sense of humor, I'm sure you've got him in stiches by now.
Here in 5 parts is a show from 1974. Gary ties religion, race, and politics together all with a healthy brand of his humor.....It was the day Gary Dee decided to build an Ark (as in: Noah's) in order to save Cleveland.
Page Two: "Gary Dee Attends His own Funeral"
Read Gary Dee's Obituary from the Cleveland Plain Dealer November 12, 1995
Here is where you can share
your thoughts about Gary with other listeners.
Sign Gary Dee's condolence book
View Gary Dee's condolence book
View recent condolence book entries
View the first condolence Book
I am in search of more material about Gary Dee. If you have any air-checks, pictures, or newspaper articles, I would be happy to exchange some of your copies for some of mine. Please contact me:
garydee (at) n1dk.com
Thanks to those who took time to E-MAIL me with their thoughts about Gary Dee
I do have much more material on Gary Dee, and I will post it as time permits. (I can be enticed by E-Mail!)