These are the last words I will likely ever utter on a radio station. They are the final words of a career that began on a humid August night in 1976; a career that afforded me so much for so many years. I have friends across the country thanks to my travels, loves gained and lost, and many wonderful memories.

Many times over those years my mother would wonder aloud of it was time to move on; the business was changing, becoming less relevant in the culture. She always meant well, of course, but I would always deflect; I had to finish the way I did (layoff) to complete the journey, so there would be real impetus for change and reinvention.

This was recorded December 18, 2008, on my talk radio station green 960 San Francisco. It’s a series of short stories that romanticize Christmas, and especially Christmas Eve, my most reverential night of the year. I have yet to understand why, even after all these years, hearing Linus explain to Charlie Brown “what Christmas is all about” still makes me well up.

I asked my mom where she hid the toys when my brother and I were little kids. I figured all these years it really was Santa. “I put them in a place you’d NEVER think to look”, she said; “the clothes dryer!”

Well played.

It’s fitting that these final words of a career were about my favorite night of all.

I believe in Santa Claus, and you won’t be able to talk me out of it.

Merry Christmas, wherever you are.

The Christmas Story