[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 108 (Thursday, September 14, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN TRIBUTE TO JACK F. PARR

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                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 14, 2000

  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who 
has been described as ``The newsman other newsmen listened to''. Jack 
F. Parr, a long-time resident of Monterey County in California, passed 
away on Monday August 7, 2000, at the age of 77.
  Born on August 15, 1922, Jack Parr was a veteran of World War II, 
where he received the Purple Heart for injuries received on D-Day. 
After serving his nation, he returned to the Central Coast and began 
working in radio. In all, he worked for three separate radio stations 
in Monterey County at different times-KMRL, KIDD and KNRY-ensuring that 
his distinctive voice and thorough reporting would be well-known and 
loved on the Monterey Peninsula and beyond. He could be found at any 
event where news was happening, and was a central figure for many 
people in the county. Print news and T.V. news reporters would listen 
to Jack's morning news report and use his leads as the agenda for news 
stories. Before the internet, he was the wireless wire for news. Asked 
how he did it, he would reply ``I get up at 4:00 A.M. and cover the 
nightly police reports-everything evolved from there.''
  Jack Parr was ``a jolly soul who never seemed to see the depressing 
side of things,'' as Joe Fitzpatrick, a former local reporter, put it. 
His humor and voice will be sorely missed by his daughters, Jacquelyn 
Parr Pitcher of St. Charles, Illinois and Karen Parr of Burbank, 
California, as well as the radio audiences of the Central Coast.

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