Tom, who hosted the NPR beloved radio program for 37 years along with his brother Ray, passed away from complications of Alzheimer's disease on Monday, November 3.
- Nov 4, 2014
AceShowbiz - Tom Magliozzi, one half of the brother duo who hosted NPR's beloved radio program "Car Talk" for 37 years, died on Monday morning, November 3 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was 77. NPR first shared the sad news along with a letter from Tom's younger brother, Ray Magliozzi.
Ray wrote on "Car Talk" staff blog, "It's with great sadness that I have to report to you guys the passing of your longtime radio companion and my older brother, Tom, who died this week from complications of Alzheimer's disease. We can be happy he lived the life he wanted to live; goofing off a lot, talking to you guys every week, and primarily, laughing his ass off."
He added, "Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the guest book, which we will share with Tom's family and friends, and all of our listeners. In lieu of flowers, or rotten fish, we ask that folks make a donation to their favorite public radio station in his memory, or to the Alzheimer's Association."
Tom and Ray are best known as "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers" in the radio program, which first debuted in 1977. In the show, they took questions like what vehicles were most appropriate for teenagers and how to get weird odors out of an air conditioning vent. They retired as the show's hosts in 2012, but NPR continued airing the broadcast.
Doug Berman, the longtime producer of "Car Talk", remembered Tom, "His laugh is the working definition of infectious laughter. Before I ever met him, I heard him, and it wasn't on the air. I'd just hear this laughter. And then there'd be more of it, and people would sort of gather around him. He was just kind of a magnet."
Doug added of the Magliozzi brothers, "He and his brother changed public broadcasting forever. Before Car Talk, NPR was formal, polite, cautious... even stiff. By being entirely themselves, without pretense, Tom and Ray single-handedly changed that, and showed that real people are far more interesting than canned radio announcers. And every interesting show that has come after them owes them a debt of gratitude."
"I think the body of work he leaves will definitely be held up with great American humorists like the Marx Brothers and Mark Twain," Doug said, "He was a genius. And he happened touse that genius to make other people feel good and laugh. I suspect, generations from now, people will be listening to Car Talk and feeling good and laughing."
Tom is survived by his siblings, Ray and Lucille, his first wife Julia, his second wife Joanne and his three kids Lydia, Alex and Anna.
