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| After five decades, radio’s Chris Core is stepping away from the microphone | After five decades, radio’s Chris Core is stepping away from the microphone |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| There’s a website that tracks how long it takes terrestrial radio waves to reach our neighboring planets and the worlds beyond our solar system: five hours to reach Pluto, for example, 31 years to reach Ursa Major, etc. | There’s a website that tracks how long it takes terrestrial radio waves to reach our neighboring planets and the worlds beyond our solar system: five hours to reach Pluto, for example, 31 years to reach Ursa Major, etc. |
| That means in decades to come, distant space aliens will be able to hear Chris Core. | That means in decades to come, distant space aliens will be able to hear Chris Core. |
| Those of us on Earth have considerably less time. After 51 years in radio, Core will make his last broadcast Friday. The fixture at WMAL and, more recently, at WTOP is retiring. | Those of us on Earth have considerably less time. After 51 years in radio, Core will make his last broadcast Friday. The fixture at WMAL and, more recently, at WTOP is retiring. |
| “When you turn 70, you start thinking of things,” Core told me. | “When you turn 70, you start thinking of things,” Core told me. |
| He actually just turned 71, but it was a year ago that he and his wife, Anne, started thinking it might be nice to live at the beach full time. Their daughter, Tabitha, is a schoolteacher in the Bronx, and the couple had bought a house in Florida nine years ago. In August, they moved there full time. | |
| “When I walk out the front door, the Gulf of Mexico is half a block away,” Core said over the phone. | “When I walk out the front door, the Gulf of Mexico is half a block away,” Core said over the phone. |
| Which all sounds very nice. | Which all sounds very nice. |
| “Nice” is the word I’d use to describe Chris Core, too. It’s possible we may again see a time when a nice person can be successful on the radio, but these days, it’s hard to imagine it. | “Nice” is the word I’d use to describe Chris Core, too. It’s possible we may again see a time when a nice person can be successful on the radio, but these days, it’s hard to imagine it. |
| When I was a delivery driver in the early 1980s, tooling around the District in a car with only an AM radio, it was Core and Bill Trumbull, his similarly ingratiating WMAL partner, who were my constant companions. Traffic was aggravating enough without choosing to listen to someone spew bile. | When I was a delivery driver in the early 1980s, tooling around the District in a car with only an AM radio, it was Core and Bill Trumbull, his similarly ingratiating WMAL partner, who were my constant companions. Traffic was aggravating enough without choosing to listen to someone spew bile. |
| Said Core: “Today it seems as if to stand out, you have to either be controversial or you have to be a little mean or you have to be crude to attract ratings, probably because there are so many sources for media now, compared to the 1970s and 1980s when WMAL was at its peak.” | Said Core: “Today it seems as if to stand out, you have to either be controversial or you have to be a little mean or you have to be crude to attract ratings, probably because there are so many sources for media now, compared to the 1970s and 1980s when WMAL was at its peak.” |
| Core is an Iowa boy who backed into radio in high school and discovered he was good at it. He came to Washington to work for the Voice of America, then parlayed a part-time sportscaster job at WMAL to a full-time newscaster gig. The station’s management noticed he seemed to click with the older guy who was on in the afternoons. | Core is an Iowa boy who backed into radio in high school and discovered he was good at it. He came to Washington to work for the Voice of America, then parlayed a part-time sportscaster job at WMAL to a full-time newscaster gig. The station’s management noticed he seemed to click with the older guy who was on in the afternoons. |
| “The break in my life was being paired with Bill Trumbull, one of the funniest people ever,” Core said. “He was just hilarious to work with. He could break me up.” | “The break in my life was being paired with Bill Trumbull, one of the funniest people ever,” Core said. “He was just hilarious to work with. He could break me up.” |
| The shtick was that Trumbull was an older guy, married with kids, and Core was a single guy with a sports car, living in the city. | The shtick was that Trumbull was an older guy, married with kids, and Core was a single guy with a sports car, living in the city. |
| “One reason it worked was that we’d tease each other,” Core said. “I didn’t mind that he was teasing me, and he didn’t mind that I was teasing him.” | “One reason it worked was that we’d tease each other,” Core said. “I didn’t mind that he was teasing me, and he didn’t mind that I was teasing him.” |
| They also spun some records, though it was the banter that people loved. | They also spun some records, though it was the banter that people loved. |
| The “Trumbull and Core” show was a ratings champ, and for five years in the 1980s, the two were the grand marshals of the Gross National Parade, a goofy entertainment that sent such groups as the Briefcase Drill Team and the Fairfax County Library Book Cart Drill Team up M Street, raising money for the D.C. Police Boys and Girls Clubs. | The “Trumbull and Core” show was a ratings champ, and for five years in the 1980s, the two were the grand marshals of the Gross National Parade, a goofy entertainment that sent such groups as the Briefcase Drill Team and the Fairfax County Library Book Cart Drill Team up M Street, raising money for the D.C. Police Boys and Girls Clubs. |
| Core told me Trumbull had been the ring bearer at his wedding. | Core told me Trumbull had been the ring bearer at his wedding. |
| Really? Bill Trumbull and not some 4-year-old child? | Really? Bill Trumbull and not some 4-year-old child? |
| “He really wanted to be the ring bearer,” Core said. | “He really wanted to be the ring bearer,” Core said. |
| Trumbull retired in 1996. In 2012, Core delivered a eulogy at his funeral. | Trumbull retired in 1996. In 2012, Core delivered a eulogy at his funeral. |
| “I still want to call him and talk to him,” Core said. | “I still want to call him and talk to him,” Core said. |
| Core was teamed with Brooke Stevens for three years, then did a morning show solo. He was fired in 2008 after talk-radio WMAL decided it would rather be whatever the opposite of nice is. | Core was teamed with Brooke Stevens for three years, then did a morning show solo. He was fired in 2008 after talk-radio WMAL decided it would rather be whatever the opposite of nice is. |
| He quickly moved to WTOP, where his daily “Core Values” has been running for 11 years. The minute-long spots make you feel like Core is someone you know and like. Who isn’t — to take one “Core Values” example — enraged by plastic packaging that makes it nearly impossible to get to the item inside? | He quickly moved to WTOP, where his daily “Core Values” has been running for 11 years. The minute-long spots make you feel like Core is someone you know and like. Who isn’t — to take one “Core Values” example — enraged by plastic packaging that makes it nearly impossible to get to the item inside? |
| “You have to use scissors to get it out,” Core said. “You risk cutting yourself. Is it the national jewels? No, it’s a toothbrush.” | “You have to use scissors to get it out,” Core said. “You risk cutting yourself. Is it the national jewels? No, it’s a toothbrush.” |
| That spot got a huge reaction. | That spot got a huge reaction. |
| “My favorite was a guy who sent me a photograph of a whole bunch of scissors encased in plastic,” he said. “You couldn’t get to the scissors.” (Someone also sent Core a pair of scissors — made out of titanium.) | “My favorite was a guy who sent me a photograph of a whole bunch of scissors encased in plastic,” he said. “You couldn’t get to the scissors.” (Someone also sent Core a pair of scissors — made out of titanium.) |
| Though it would be easy for Core to file his commentaries from Florida, he chose not to. | Though it would be easy for Core to file his commentaries from Florida, he chose not to. |
| “I thought it would feel a little disingenuous to be talking about the slippery roads in Washington when it’s 70 and sunny.” | “I thought it would feel a little disingenuous to be talking about the slippery roads in Washington when it’s 70 and sunny.” |
| Chris Core’s final “Core Values” commentary will air Friday at 3:40 p.m., 6:10 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. on WTOP. | Chris Core’s final “Core Values” commentary will air Friday at 3:40 p.m., 6:10 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. on WTOP. |
| After that, the glass-enclosed nerve center will be replaced by the palm frond-enclosed relaxation center. | After that, the glass-enclosed nerve center will be replaced by the palm frond-enclosed relaxation center. |
| There are just two weeks left in this year’s Washington Post Helping Hand, our annual fundraising campaign for three local charities: Bright Beginnings, So Others Might Eat and N Street Village. To make your online donation, visit posthelpinghand.com. | There are just two weeks left in this year’s Washington Post Helping Hand, our annual fundraising campaign for three local charities: Bright Beginnings, So Others Might Eat and N Street Village. To make your online donation, visit posthelpinghand.com. |
| Twitter: @johnkelly | Twitter: @johnkelly |
| For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/john-kelly. | For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/john-kelly. |