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"Car Talk" Co-Host Tom Magliozzi Dies At Age 77
samzenpus writes "Many outlets are reporting the death of Tom Magliozzi, co-host of the long-running weekly National Public Radio show Car Talk. Tom and his brother Ray ran a repair shop in the '70s and in 1987 landed their radio gig. They were known as "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers." The show stopped recording two years ago and is currently airing old episodes. Tom died of complications from Alzheimer's at age 77."
Tom represented the cynicism, sarcasm and realism of many of my engineering brethren. RIP
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
When I lived in Beantown, I used to take my care there on occasion. You couldn't know a more down to earth and practical individual. I will mourn his passing.
You shall be missed.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
A sad day in the car talk garage no doubt. His laugh alone brought a smile to my face. At least he greatly enjoyed what he did and brought laughter to a lot of people. Our thoughts are with you Tom.
RIP
On the bright side, I guess he's now living out the third half of his life.
Car talk was a major influence for me growing up. Listened to it on Saturdays while cleaning my room. Man.
Thanks, Tom.
Non impediti ratione cogitatonis? (unencumbered by the thought process)
I miss Tom.
R.I.P. I've been missing them both for two years now already.
Was it because he drove like his brother?
Thanks Tom for the good times. My condolences to the family. Tom shall be missed and we share part of your loss.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
My first thought was "is this really news for nerds?"
Then I thought "hey, these guys were hackers, just in another domain."
Tom, I hope you are having a blast in that great auto-graveyard in the sky.
Can someone explain the summary with a car analogy?
That is the worst news I've heard in a long time. Those guys were the best reason to listen to the radio.
But they beat me to it. http://www.cartalk.com/content... Mr. Plotz had better do a good job.
But they never told us which was click and which was clack.
I moved to the Boston area in 2000. Flipping through the local radio stations I found WEEI (local sports radio) and Click and Clack on NPR.
Whenever Click and Clack was on I had to listen all the way through. No matter how small the car problem, Tom and Ray found ways of making it interesting, entertaining, and funny while teaching us how cars work along the way.
My condolences to the family.
Tom Magliozzi who, along with his brother Ray, hosted NPRÃ(TM)s hit comedy show Car Talk for the last 37 years, died Monday morning from complications of AlzheimerÃ(TM)s Disease. ÃoeTurns out he wasnÃ(TM)t kidding,Ã said Ray. ÃoeHe really couldnÃ(TM)t remember last weekÃ(TM)s puzzler.Ã
One of mine was when a kid called to ask how he can make washing his parents' cars easier. Tom joked and replied, mix sand and iron filings into the bucket with the wash water...they'll never ask you to wash their cars again.
I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
Some people seem to be born as car buffs with keen interest into almost very obscure detail of automotive design, engineering, and lore. Me, I've never really found them interesting. What fascination for vehicles I natively had was directed towards other types of vehicles. In fact I found cars boring, until I listened to Car Talk. They brought the subject alive. The good natured banter, the subtle yet probing nature of their questions, the testing of their theories... it was fun, educational, and you got a sense of the deep well of knowledge those two had to draw from. (They were MIT grads, after all.) As a bonus they solved a huge mystery by revealing the source of a problem with I car I once had. (Really, who would think to look THERE for that problem?!?) I don't listen as much as I used to, but it's still fun. RIP Tom, and long life Ray.
I'll try not to drive like your brother.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
The episode where some guy ran over a bowling ball in the middle of the road is one of the funniest bits I can remember.
At least he's finally driving the Sleek Black Beauty again. I'll miss that guy. Heck, I miss the show, but the reruns are okay.
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
http://www.cartalk.com/content/winter-driving-tips-mars
As MIT graduates in Engineering.. yah.. I think they had Geek Tech Cred
I loved Car Talk, still do, and it's still an integral part of my Saturday morning errands as I drive my truck around to the dump and so forth (I live in the sticks, so I do a lot of driving). After years (decades) of listening to those guys, I felt like I knew them. They made me laugh through some pretty grim times of my life.
So I am quite saddened to hear of Tommy's passing, and I feel for the families. He brought me a lot of good cheer. I had really hoped to meet him one day and have a beer or three. Oh well.
With something fresh and forth listening too? Also can they please replace the 2hr Prairie Home Companion?
I turn of my radio when either of these come on and takes awhile to turn it back on.
His will was drafted by Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe.
(RIP, Tom.)
mr. magliozzi and company have entertained me for years. decades even. drat i am old. god bless you my friend.
It is what it is.
Always a class act, I'll miss you Tom and Carry on Ray. Tom Klimek Lemon Grove, California
Sorry to see him go and he never got that old MG to run properly either.
As they say old mechanics never die they just lose their bearings.
Reruns of Car Talk still broadcast on NPR and podcasts every week:
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=9911203
I get them on my Android phone through doubletwist app. Even though the episodes are old, they still seem fresh and you wouldn't know how old they were except when someone mentions the year of their car.
If you want to see them in action doing something different, they hosted an episode of PBS's Nova about the future of cars in 2009:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-mVR4F7tfY
Tom & Ray were doing a bit on "Boston'isms"...
Tom: "Okay, how 'bout this one... kahkis"
Ray: "kahkis? You mean like pants?"
Tom: "no.... like 'I need to go to the store but I can't find my kahkis' "
--------- ... RIP Tom.. gonna miss ya fella..
Hopefully the dodge dart gets an alignment.
There is a nice and humorous obituary on their website.
...our funeral director; Diana Gotoheaven.
Nullius in verba
I never knew Tom, but I knew Ray. The brothers are awesome, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer. They found out about it in passing conversation and they mailed her a bunch of Cartalk swag (she is a huge fan) It's sad to see Click and Clack separated. #RIPClick
I learned from these morons.
My puzzler answer written on the back of a twenty-dollar bill was never randomly selected...
I'm listening to a re-run now on Sat Radio 121 with a tear in my eye.
RIP Tom. Cheers, -T
Brakes: http://xkcd.com/582/
Tom, Thanks for all the laughs.
Was Tom Click or Clack? I can never remember.....
I had a thermodynamics professor who changed my opinion about statistics like that. It's a great experience to have.
and St Peter asks him "My car is making a funny noise..."
RIP Tom, you will be missed...
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
From wikipedia:
Tom earned a degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He subsequently worked for Sylvania's Semiconductor Division in Woburn, Massachusetts, and then for the Foxboro Company, while earning his MBA from Northeastern University and teaching part-time at local universities. Eventually tiring of his commute and job, he quit, spending the next year doing odd jobs such as painting for other tenants in his apartment building.
Ray taught science in Bennington, Vermont, for a few years, before returning to Cambridge in 1973, when he and Tom opened a do-it-yourself repair shop named Hacker's Haven. The shop rented space and equipment to hackers trying to fix their own cars but was not profitable. Nevertheless, the two enjoyed the experience and were invited in 1977 to be part of a panel of automotive experts on Boston's NPR affiliate WBUR. Subsequently, the brothers converted the shop into a standard auto-repair shop named Good News Garage..
In addition to the local radio show, Tom worked a day or two per week at the Technology Consulting Group, run by a former MIT classmate, in Boston, and he still taught at local universities. Tom's professed belief that college professors make lots of money without working drove him to spend nine years working while getting his doctorate in Marketing from Boston University Graduate School of Management. After being a professor for eight years, he decided that he disliked teaching, and quit.
These guys made NPR fun to listen to.
They're self-deprecating humor was great: " you've wasted another perfectly good hour listening to Cartalk"
Didn't learn a single lesson about cars.. too busy laughing.
When I was little my Dad and I would run errands together on Saturday morning and listen to Car Talk. Now I am grown I listen to Car Talk on the weekends with my Son. Thanks Tom and Ray for being part of our family for three generations.
-- QED
I'm glad to hear that Tommy is finally reunited with is 1965 AMC Ambassador, which Ray so cruelly sent to the crusher (just because it had fungus growing out of the seats and it hadn't moved for years).
If ever there were a time for Slashdot to allow image links, this would have been it. Meantime, this link is for you.
Luckily some brilliant person put two minutes of him laughing up on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
If you can get through that video without at least cracking a smile, there is something wrong with you.
RIP Tom.
It was a show about drivers. I think that's why it tended to be accessible to people who didn't care about cars.
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
From years ago. Caller: "My car quit without any warning."
One of the brothers: "What did you expect, a post card?"
Still cracks me up years later. You guys were great.
Circle the wagons and fire inward. Entropy increases without bounds.