I don’t often remember my dreams, but one I had this morning was memorable, enough so to share.  I had a dream that one of my bosses, Eliot Keller, one of the primary owners of KZIA, Inc. was the President of the United States.  I was visiting him, and he was telling me that he hated the food they were serving him.  So we decided to sneak out for some Wendy’s hamburgers.  Eliot got up and led me to the door.  It was a weird dream, but I was enjoying it.

That’s when I woke up.  And when conscious thought overtook my dream state, I got quite sad.

I was sad because Eliot has been stricken with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and I won’t ever see him spring out of a chair in pursuit of some fun and a good meal again.  I stayed in bed for a long time this morning thinking of Eliot and all the good things we’ve done together in the four years I’ve been working here. 

Eliot and his business partner (and my other boss) Rob Norton are really special people.  They are a dying breed in radio; guys who own a radio station because they care about broadcasting.  They understand that it’s Show Business.  They believe in the product side of radio, as well as the sales side.

When I think of Eliot, I think of his sense of humor.  I think of the enormous amount of time and energy he has given to our community.  If there is something important going on in the corridor, Eliot not only knows about it, he’s probably involved. 

His body may be working against him at this point, but his mind is still as sharp as ever.  He still has much to contribute, and whether he’s physically in this building or not, his presence is felt.  Everyone here knows our mission, knows the way Eliot would want things done.  And the respect for him that permeates these hallways makes it easy to carry out that mission.  

My respect for him is enormous.  If there were more like him, the world would be a better place.  My thoughts are with him often, apparently even when I’m asleep.