For episode 89 of this podcast, we wanted to pay tribute to a man who sits on the Mount Rushmore of WJPZ History, Hall of Famer Larry Barron, from the Class of 1987. As we celebrate his life, career, and mentorship, we are joined by several guests. Pete Bowers was Larry's high school radio station teacher and advisor, and the man who his partly reponsible for the long list of Michiganders in the WJPZ family. Danny Corsun ('87) and Scotty Bergstein ('89) were classmates and also roommates with Larry in Los Angeles. Classmate and frien Carl Weinstein ('88) was instrumental in setting up the Larry Barron Fund for Mentorship (more on the LBFM later), and Scott Meach ('90) has been described as Larry's "favorite mentee."
We start before Syracuse, with Pete's description of Larry in high school -an overachiever who quickly ascended the station ranks and got stuff done. Naturally, he frequently spoke to Pete's future students, telling his story from Michigan to Syracuse to Los Angeles. When Pete was researching the best communications schools in the country, he found SU and Newhouse.
We've heard previously in this podcast about the pressure on WJPZ to be a block formatted radio station, but we haven't heard the shrewd move that Larry, a former GM and then-broadcast consultant, pulled to save the station's format and educational mission. Danny and Carl tell us how Larry pulled a procedural maneuverwith the Student Government Association meeting to delay a vote on forcing WJPZ to go block format. Before the vote could be rescheduled, the station severed ties. It remained independent of University funding until 2002.
A couple years after graduation, Larry and his longtime co-host Cousin Danny returned to do a Crazy Morning Crew episode as alumni. You'll hear the audio of their "burn your buns" bit - which involves Larry conning a sorority girl into auditioning to sing the Star Spangled Banner at a nationally televised basketball game.
Next are a couple clips from Chris Godsick's episode of the pod - the time Larry swore on the air, but more importantly the time he secured the rights to be the exclusive announcement for basketball tickets going on sale.
Carl Weinstein tells us about Larry the person and the mentor - leading the way for both he and his son Cole, three decades later. This story is backed up by Shruti Marahte, Class of 2019, who Larry took under his wing as she headed out to LA.
Scott briefly tells us about Larry's career - from CNN to entertainment tonight to producing a number of reality TV shows. But for as much professional success as Larry had, today's panel wanted to spend more time about Larry the person - even his penchant for eating cereal out of a giant bowl.
When Carl and Scott put together two memorials for Larry (Zoom couldn't handle just one), even then, Larry was connecting people. Everyone had something to say, and the memorials morphed into reunions. From here, the Larry Barron Fund for Mentorship was born, thanks to Carl, Scott, Larry's parents, and so many others.
Because Larry was such a connector - seemingly meeting people for way more than 3 meals a day, the LBFM endowment, starting in Fall of 2023, will select two SU students to spend their spring break in Los Angeles. It will be all-expenses paid, and include meetings with folks in their desired career fields. And of the two students chosen each year, one must be an active WJPZ staff member.
Scott E. Meach joins us for the final part of our conversation, and he shares how Larry mentored him from high school, through college, and beyond - and what an incredible friendship they shared.
More on the Larry Barron Fund for Mentorship, including the application, can be found here:
https://la.syr.edu/giving/barron-scholarship.html
Full Larry Barron Highlight Reel Dropbox Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/j432lxlnpkfh34iime2z7/WJPZ-Larry-Barron-Highlight-Reel.mp3?rlkey=uat9o3g5u53wwvbt37gzyqvao&dl=0
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.
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