Bruce and Gary and Happy Days

He was a tall Texan with a resonant voice.
For local sponsors the talent of choice.
He graduated from Jefferson but looked like Abe.
The local heart throb for every bobbie sox babe.
He was so popular in that musical age.
One might have thought Elvis was on stage.
He could have been a network host,
But he didn't seek stardom from coast-to-coast.
Dick Clark was star of American Bandstand.
Bruce had his own kingdom in South Texas land.
Teenage girls would swoon and scream.
Bruce was the vision in every feminine dream.
He was six feet four and looked over the crowd.
His thunderous sound was never too loud.
Our lives first touched back in '63.
He was working radio here.
I was in Big D, Hey this is Bruce at KTSA.
Can you give me radio reports about JFK?
Gordon McLendon was the network’s owner.
So I became a newsman loaner.
I provided him with inside facts about Lee Harvey and Jack,
But as years flashed by we lost track
Until I moved here from Houston for channel five.
We agreed to keep our friendship alive.
I soon learned that he was one of San Antonio’s best.
He conquered setbacks but passed every test.
He was friends with so many stars of the screen,
Bob Hope, Dean Martin and Steve McQueen.
He often visited with legendary Ringo Starr.
He once told me of his interview with Candy Barr.
We met every week with a group of old coots.
Some wore tennis shoes…others wore boots.
We discussed current events, politics and how life ends,
But none of us ever had to buy Depends.
Almost ten years we rekindled those memories of the past,
Never knowing if the program would last.
I’ll miss my co-host and loss of a great friend,
But it is a new beginning and not the end.
As the Lord’s Program Director gives us the cue,
Bruce, this edition of Happy Days is for you.

Gary Delaune

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