[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 28, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E38]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO ROGER ERICKSON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM RAMSTAD

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 28, 1998

  Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a pioneering giant 
in radio who retired recently.
  Roger Erickson is a radio legend in Minnesota. Roger has been 
entertaining and informing the vast listening audience of WCCO Radio in 
Minnesota for 38 years.
  Radio dials all across Minnesota--on farms, in small towns, on 
mainstreet, throughout the suburbs and downtown--are stuck with chicken 
grease on WCCO because of the long-running, immense, talents of Roger 
Erickson and his longtime partner Charlie Boone.
  It has been reported that this dynamic radio twosome may be the 
longest-running team in the history of U.S. broadcasting.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to call Roger Erickson my friend and 
constituent. Nobody has done more to cheer Minnesotans the past 38 
years than Roger.
  Roger Erickson grew up on a farm in Winthrop, Minnesota, listening to 
the radio station he would later dominate after graduating from my alma 
mater, the University of Minnesota.
  Roger, our hat's off to thee!
  Roger Erickson and his partner Charlie Boone are as well known as any 
Minnesotan. In all their years together, Erickson and Boone have never 
had a fight, which, as they quickly note, is a better record than most 
marriages.
  I was fortunate to be present on January 9, 1998, when an amazing 
collection of Minnesotans joined Roger and his longtime partner for 
their final broadcast together. It was quite a scene, as former 
governors, leaders in medicine, industry and sports all gathered to pay 
tribute to these broadcasting giants, these pioneering ``Paul Bunyans 
of the air.''
  Minnesota has spawned many heroes, from Charles Lindbergh to Hubert 
Humphrey. But no one has had a bigger impact and shaped life in 
Minnesota more than Roger Erickson, with his partner Charlie Boone.
  Roger Erickson signing off the air is a truly landmark event. 
Minnesotans of all stripes saluted him for his public service in a 
swell of emotion and gratitude. Little wonder. This is an end of an 
era, and Roger will be sorely missed in our lives. When the snow flies 
in Minnesota, our ears are quickly tuned to Roger. He's the guy who 
closes our schools, and he does it with relish.
  WCCO is known as the Good Neighbor, and Roger Erickson has been a 
good neighbor to every Minnesotan, a friend to turn to when life got 
rough or important news was in the air. When we needed a laugh, Roger 
made our sides split with his Scandinavian humor, a Minnesota Hospital 
full of eccentrics suffering from not-so-serious ills, and his role as 
the foil to Boone's Senator, whose public policy pronouncements 
sometimes made more sense than many would care to admit.
  Mr. Speaker, as Roger said: ``It's been a great run. How lucky can 
you be?''
  Roger, it's been us, your loyal listeners, who have been the lucky 
ones. Thank you for all you have done to make our lives fuller, to make 
uniquely Minnesota moments more memorable.
  We wish the very best to Roger, his wife Margaret, and their family. 
In the years ahead, when our sunrises are no longer greeted in concert 
with Roger Erickson singing the famous ``Good Morning'' song, we will 
be comforted knowing Roger is on his 20 acres in Minnesota, enjoying 
the quality of life he helped plant for all Minnesotans.

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