Howie Carr
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Howard "Howie" Louis[1] Carr (born January 17, 1952) is an American broadcaster, award-winning journalist, New York Times best-selling author, and a highly rated talk-radio host in the greater Boston and New England area.
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[edit] Background
Carr was born at the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary in Portland, Maine, to Frances Stokes Sutton, age 29, and Howard Louis Carr, Sr., age 47. Carr reports that he was raised by an aunt (Mable A. Carr) at 45 Kenwood Street in Portland.
He is a graduate of Deerfield Academy and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with his second wife, Kathy, and their three daughters, Carolyn, Charlotte, and Christina ("Tina"). He also has two other daughters from his previous marriage. Up until early 2006, Carr referred to his wife as "Submit". Prior to a signing for his new book, The Brothers Bulger, at Wellesley Free Library on March 4, 2006, Carr explained that he came across the name on a headstone in the cemetery across from his house when he lived in Acton, Massachusetts, and thought that it would be a great name for a woman because it wasn't likely to become popular again anytime soon. In the early stages of their marriage, Mrs. Carr didn't want her first name to be public knowledge, hence her husband's moniker for her. For Christmas 2005, as a gift to his wife, Carr said he would stop referring to her as Submit.
Aside from broadcasting, he is an award-winning front-page columnist for the Boston Herald. Known for his scathing exposés of local politicians, Carr seems unafraid to "take on" politicians. For example, the day after President Clinton's testimony in the Surpeme Court Case Clinton v. Jones, C-SPAN broadcast Carr's radio program in its entirety.
In early 2006, Carr became a book author with the publication of his NY Times rated best selling book on Billy & Whitey Bulger, titled The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century (ISBN 0-44657-651-4).
As well as being heard on WRKO AM 680, he is syndicated across the country and streamed on-line through his Web site. He has interviewed numerous politicians, authors, and celebrities. He has worked as a reporter and commentator for Boston television stations WGBH and WLVI.
From 1980–81, Carr was the Boston City Hall bureau chief of the Boston Herald American, and he later worked as the paper's State House bureau chief. As a political reporter for WNEV (now WHDH), his coverage of then mayor Kevin White was so relentless that after the mayor announced he wasn't running again, he told the Boston Globe that one of the things he enjoyed most about his impending retirement was not having Carr chase him around the city.
In 1985, he won the National Magazine Award, the magazine industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, for Essays and Criticism. In television, he has been nominated for an Emmy Award. Carr played a talk show host, perhaps based on Jerry Williams, in the 1998 John Travolta film A Civil Action.
For years Carr has had a feud with former fellow Herald columnist Mike Barnicle, calling him a "hack" and saying he wanted to be the Herald's "nonfiction columnist" (concerning acts of plagiarism [1] Another reason for Barnicle's suspension and resignation from the Globe was fabrication of identities and situations.)[2] A Steve Bailey Globe column stated that Carr gave out Barnicle's home phone number, an allegation which is staunchly refuted by Mr. Carr. Barnicle called Carr "a pathetic figure" and asked "Can you imagine being as consumed with envy and jealousy toward me for as long as it has consumed him?" [3]
In 2002, The Boston Herald reported Superior Court Judge Ernest Murphy said of a fourteen-year old rape victim: "She can't go through life as a victim. She's 14. She got raped. Tell her to get over it." In February of the same year, Carr wrote a column criticizing the judge, positing that Murphy had a history of lenient sentencing and, in an online chat session, there were posts questioning whether or not Judge Murphy would "get over it" if his daughters had been the victims of rapes.
In June of the same year Judge Murphy filed a civil lawsuit against The Boston Herald and Carr. Mr. Murphy denied any of the comments. Ultimately, Murphy won the suit and a resulting $2.09 million payment. During the trial, when asked what his reaction was to the Carr column, Mr. Murphy had said he "wanted to kill him".[4] Following the lawsuit, Murphy again made news by sending the The Boston Herald a letter and a demand for $3.26 million (the court award, plus pre- and post-judgment interest) on official court stationery. [5]
[edit] The Howie Carr Show
For close to two decades, Carr has had a radio talk show, first at WHDH-AM 850, then (when WHDH became WEEI in 1994) at WRKO-AM 680 in Boston, Massachusetts. He took over the afternoon drive-time slot from Jerry Williams' [6] program, on which Carr often made appearances, originally during a segment called "The Governors," with Jerry and Barbara Anderson. The show's first producer was Kevin Straley, know on-air as "Little Al". The name came from a ruse about the then-program director Al Mayers ("Big Al"). Straley is presently a Vice President at XM Radio; Mayers is the General Manager of Bloomberg Radio in New York City. The show's present producer is Nancy "Sandy" Shack, who was Dick Syatt’s producer during his dating show. Doug ("Virgin Boy" or "VB") Goudie was Carr's former producer, and left to be an on-air personality for the "Fox 25 Morning News" on WFXT. Goudie is Carr's primary substitute host. Other substitute hosts include Colonel David Hunt and "Sandy" (Howie's current producer).
[edit] Syndication
In September 1996 the show experimented with local syndication, sending the show out via ISDN connections to a group of stations around New England. The local experiment was such a success that - in January 1998 - ABC Radio Today started syndicating the show nationally. The show did not sustain a large nationwide following and syndication was handed over to SupeRadio. In 2005, Carr's show was syndicated to New England-only stations by Entercom, the corporate owner of WRKO.
[edit] "Chump Line"
Listeners can call Carr's "Chump Line" (617-779-3469) and leave an amusing message which might be played in the third hour of the show (starting at 5:07 pm) each day. Carr often remarks how others have copied his format, alluding to the The Whiner Line on WRKO's sister station, WEEI. The Chump Line is available as a free podcast from WRKO's Web site. The last message is always followed by "Thank you for calling Howie Carr -- you chump!"
[edit] "Hispanic Violators Roll Call"
Carr has a frequent segment in which traffic violators with Hispanic names on the city's weekly police blotter are read over the radio. The Hispanic name of the offender is read, usually in broken Spanish "accents" along with the offender's traffic violation. After each name is read, and before the next one is read, the first few bars of La Cucaracha (the Cockroach song) is played in a car horn rendition. The segment is usually bookended around Carr's opinions on the dangers of illegal immigration. The segment was introduced in August 2006, when the question of in-state drivers licenses for illegal immigrants was a controversial issue among Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates. In Massachusetts, the highest population of illegal immigrants are of Hispanic or Latin descent.[citation needed]
[edit] Other features
The show also features other contests in which prizes - usually inexpensive ones - are given out. In the "Celebrity Death Pool" callers choose which celebrity they believe will die next. In the "Wizard of Uhs" segment, Carr plays a clip, usually thirty seconds or so in duration, of the senior Massachusetts Senator, Ted Kennedy. Listeners have to count the number of "uhs" that Kennedy says. "Wizard of Uhs" was originally crafted for Joe Kennedy's ramblings, but it has evolved to include Ted Kennedy. In all cases, final decisions as to the actual number of "uhs" heard in the segment are left to the judge -- Howie.
Another special feature is Mumbles - otherwise known as Thomas M. Menino, the current mayor of Boston - in which Carr tries to decipher what Menino is saying.
[edit] James "Whitey" Bulger
Carr is an expert on Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger; he even has a section of his website called "Whitey Watch" [7]. His book The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century (ISBN 0-44657-651-4), which documents the crimes and actions of Bulger and his politically active brother Billy Bulger and their impact on Massachusetts, was released in early 2006 by Warner Books. In its first week on sale, the book made the New York Times' Top 10 Best-Sellers List. *Whitey World
[edit] "License Plate Lottery"
In Massachusetts a low-digit license plate was often seen as a status symbol. Polticians and those connected to them were the only people, seemingly, able to obtain these plates with four, three or sometimes even only two digits. The plates are often handed down from generation to generation making it nearly impossible for someone that has no connections to get one. Howie Carr, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Motor Vehicles holds a lottery for Massachusetts residents to "win" the plates.[8]
[edit] Nicknames
Carr is known by the following nicknames:
- "Baby-faced Assassin" - given to him in his younger years.
- "Brittle Bastard" - attributed to his self-disclosed osteoporosis.
- "Cap'n" - self-named by Howie when he once went out and interviewed "bums" to lampoon a Boston area community's distribution of vouchers for the homeless. Carr would offer either money for alcohol or sizeable vouchers for food to the homeless. The homeless men always chose the drink. To get the cash, Howie requested that they called him "Cap'n" before awarding the gift. It is used affectionately by the listeners and Carr.
- "Fat Bastard" - used by listeners often in jest, though Carr uses the term to describe Ted Kennedy.
- "Paper Boy" - given to him in honor of his job as a journalist.
- "A Civil Howie" - in jest for his role in the film "A Civil Action"
Carr has given nicknames to several people:
- Doug "Virgin Boy" Goudy, Carr's former producer, received his nickname due to the fact he lived at home with his mother and did not have a driver's license, which led Carr to surmise that he was a virgin.
- Boston Mayor Thomas M. "Mumbles" Menino received his nickname on the show for his poor diction. The name is taken from the Dick Tracy cartoon character. Carr often play clips of the mayor poking fun at him.
- Senator John "Liveshot" Kerry received his nickname, coined by Carr, for his propensity for seeking out a news camera.
- Senator Edward M. "Fat Boy" Kennedy received his nickname on the show due to his weight.
- Nicky "Pockets" Mavroules, D-Mass, an ultra-liberal nuclear-freeze proponent who later went to prison.
- Marty "T as in Taliban" Meehan, the liberal, anti-war Massachusetts Congressman.
- William "The Corrupt Midget" Bulger, the ex-president of the Massachusetts State Senate, University of Massachusetts and brother of notorious mobster James "Whitey" Bulger. The moniker was actually hung on President Bulger by Judge E. George Daher after Bulger attempted to defund the Commonwealth's Housing Court. Referring to Governor Michael Dukakis, who was then running for President, Daher demanded, "How's he going to stand up to the Russians when he can't stand up to the corrupt midget?"
- Charlie "Good Time" Flaherty, the disgraced ex-speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
- Tom "Tommy Taxes" Finnernan, another disgraced ex-speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
- Tom "Unfortunately" Reilly, the Massachusetts Attorney General and 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate who usually begins his press conferences with the word "unfortunately" after losing another case. The use of the word 'unfortunately' in a Reilly campaign ad (spoken by a voiceover man) has been played as a sound cut.
- Charles "Chuckles" Reardon, ex-sheriff of Essex County [9]
- Cheryl Jacques, rhymes with "fakes," ex-state senator of Massachusetts.
- "Fat Matt" Matthew J. Amorello, the tubby ex-Massachusetts Turnpike Chairman.
- Lt. Governor "Muffy" Kerry Healey, as well as "Little Bo Prep" regarding accusations of elitist attitudes. On September 20, 2006, Carr told Healey he would consider "benching" the "Muffy" nickname "for the duration of the campaign". Earlier in the show, Carr's board operator referred to Healey as "Muffy The Moonbat Slayer".
- Kevin "Money Fitz" Fitzgerald, ex-state representative. Allegedly convinced a dying homeless woman to leave him money in his will.
- Congressman Patrick "Patches" Kennedy, D-RI, son of Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy from the Clarence Carter song. A sarcastic jab at the Kennedy whom Carr considers least likely to improve the family's reputation. [10]
- State Rep. Paul "Racehorse" Kujawski, D-Webster, Mass. Carr used the nickname in a Boston Herald column after Kujawski's August 2004 arrest for drunken driving and open and gross lewdness. According to police, he urinated on the side of U.S. Route 20 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts in front of a state trooper [11].
- The nickname for William Bulger, "the Corrupt Midget", was not given to Bulger by Howie Carr although it was popularized by him. The reference originated with state judge George Daher during Michael Dukakis's 1988 presidential campaign. Daher was overheard telling a friend something like, "How can Dukakis stand up to Gorbachev when he can't even stand up to a corrupt midget?" Judge Daher was in conflict with Bulger, who was then President of the Massachusetts Senate over hiring of his brother Jackie Bulger as clerk of the Housing Court. President Bulger had retaliated by writing every judicial pay raise that passed the Legislature in subsequent years to exclude Judge Daher.
- Howie also has sound effect "nicknames" for gay people. An antique car horn is sounded whenever Howie talks about a man he thinks is gay, and a wolf howls for supposed lesbians. This is how he gets away with calling people "fags".[2] [3] [4] [5]
[edit] Trivia
- Howie Carr has related on air that he had a vasectomy, that he suffers from osteoporosis and emphysema.
- He routinely refers to gays as "sodomites" on his radio show and in his column.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ The incorrect middle name of Lawrence - popularized by longtime producer Doug "VB" ("Virgin Boy") Goudy - was confirmed by Carr on his August 7, 2006 show on WRKO.
- ^ http://medianation.blogspot.com/2006/11/john-depetros-big-gay-timeout.html
- ^ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1734841/posts
- ^ http://massresistance.blogspot.com/2006/03/more-hate-speech-accusations-howie.html
- ^ http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/dont_quote_me/documents/02977840.htm
- ^ http://news.bostonherald.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=166555
