Moon’s Recollections of Joe Lowe

I have been thinking a lot about Joe Lowe.

I remember all I’d heard about him before he came to work for us at WOMI. I thought, based upon false assumptions, that he would be a egomaniac bent on having just his own way. Not the case at all. Joe was the first to make sure I knew he was a team player, here to work hard and help the morning show on WOMI succeed.Later as we talked more and more, we discussed radio. How much we both loved it. How we both loved AM. Heck, hoss, that’s what we both grew up on. Joe in Brooklyn, listening to the great New York radio top 40 stations: WABC, WMCA and WNBC. Me, in Texas, bringing in faraway stations on my transistor radio.

Since I had worked in many major markets, Joe and I shared what could have been. He told me he wanted to be a big fish in the small pond. And, he was that. A whale in a small pond! And, I am not referring to Joe’s considerable girth. He asked me if I thought he could have been successful in the majors. Why, of course!

But, Owensboro-Daviess County was Joe’s home. You all love him.

We used to launch into Amos and Andy voices, just on the spur of the moment. And, no one here overhearing us would know what the heck we were doing. And, that made it even more fun. We would laugh about Louisville radio and WAKY where he worked and WINN where I did. We were there at the same time but did not know one another.

Joe was one of the most generous people I know. Personally, when my car was wrecked, Joe let me drive his Lincoln around for three weeks! He lent me his turntable and computer for me to transfer my lp’s to digital. He loaned me his top 40 CD collection. He set it all up, make sure it worked correctly and never asked for one thing in return.

He seldom slept. I know he’d arise at around 4:00am to get ready for the 6:00 am show. Then, he’d come in right at 6:00 or a few minutes before. He’d tell me where he’d seen the night before or what he’d watched on TV – long after my bedtime.

He ALWAYS wore shorts. He and I loved to keep the studios cold. To the chagrin of all the other deejays.

He’d go on these long trips all over the country for Monster Truck emcee work. Many people I know would want a day to recuperate (me, maybe?) but not Joe. No matter how late he arrived, or how tiring the trip, he’d been there for the show.

Joe cared deeply for his work. He had great pride in WOMI and being the live and local morning host on the station.

When we began blogging on the website, he went way beyond what anyone expected of him. The very vibrancy of 1490womi.com was attributable to Joe.

He told me the day after his diagnosis of stage 4 cancer he had three to six months to live. It was just two.

Adios, mi compañero.