Maria

1) What was the biggest thing you have ever won? Gee. Not much. Let me go with the first win, not the biggest. I discovered rock radio when I was 10. By 11, I knew I’d be a DJ. My favorite station was WDRC. I won a 45 by the Mamas & the Papas called I Saw Her Again. Hearing Long John Wade say my name on the radio was thrilling. When I was hired in Hartford at its first oldies station 91Q, I met Long John. He and all the other jocks from “back in the day” kicked off the format. To hear Joey Reynolds say “I’m done, Gary Hunter (my DJ handle) starts your new station” was also amazing.

2) Describe your favorite teacher. What made her or him special? I had trouble with Spanish. My junior year I got a teacher with an incredible sense of humor. As part of my final exam, we had to get up and talk in Spanish on a topic of my teacher’s choice. I was really into reading Harold Robbins trashy tales back then. The night before I was reading a book based in Latin America. I learned a lot of Spanish profanity. Back to the final: There was NO fucking way I could do 30 seconds. When I got up he gave me my topic. It was “Maria”. So I stated, “Maria es un puta con tetas muy bonitas rojas e grande.” That was it., about five seconds. My teacher laughed so hard that he nearly wet himself. No one knew what I had said, so the teacher asked me to tell them. I had said, “Maria is a whore with very pretty red big tits.” I got an “A”.