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Remembering Bob Steele
By John Lavernoich
When I heard on December 6 on WTIC-AM that Bob Steele had died, it was both a surprise and shock to me. It was a surprise since it occurred on the day before he would have done his monthly radio show. It was a shock because a Connecticut icon who was also a media icon had passed away.
I was born in 1965, when Bob Steele’s daily morning radio show was still being broadcast on WTIC-AM, but Bob’s radio show had already been part of my family’s morning ritual since they moved to Connecticut back in 1956. Then again, Bob Steele was part of many Connecticut residents’ morning rituals when he first came to both Hartford and WTIC in 1936, and he was part of the already-growing radio industry long before he came to Connecticut.
Diehard fans of Bob Steele know that he began his career in sports before he turned to radio, but it was the latter where Bob gained his greatest fame. In fact, Bob was so linked to both the industry and Connecticut for over 65 years that it’s hard to imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t entered radio and moved to Connecticut—but it’s best not to imagine that. For over six decades, several generations of Connecticut radio listeners grew up listening to Bob, who became an enduring part of our lives and of life in Connecticut.
Sometimes we take our local radio personalities for granted. One reason we never took Bob Steele for granted was that he was not only funny and intelligent, he was also one of the most likeable people to ever hit the airwaves. It was this extraordinary quality that allowed Bob to endure for over six decades. He won many awards and eventually was elected to the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. Even towards the end of his life, Bob was that rarest of radio personalities who continued to shine brightly, even in the era of Howard Stern, Dee Snider, etc.
Bob Steele’s radio show was listener-friendly in the way that he trusted your intelligence, integrity and good taste—and in turn, listeners trusted him because he showed these same traits. From the "Word of the Day" segment to the weather temperatures around the world to his jokes, Bob always brightened every Connecticut resident’s day because he was not only smart enough to entertain and inform his listeners, but because he never sank to the level of certain radio personalities like Howard Stern, who should never have been allowed to speak before a microphone in the first place. What Bob did in his chosen field was not only a gift that he shared with Connecticut; it was also pure magic.
It’ll be difficult to replace Bob Steele, now that he’s gone. Replacing a radio legend like Bob, who was extraordinarily talented and had a great rapport with several generations of Connecticut radio listeners, is unthinkable, and for a good reason: Bob was not only a titan in his field, he was also a one-of-a-kind personality such as you rarely find these days, even in today’s complicated world. It’s highly unlikely that we’ll soon find a radio personality who possesses the qualities that defined Bob Steele.
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