Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise.
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In 2008, I met one of my heroes, Gary Owens, at Jerry's Diner in Encino.
It was a long interview and covered his life and career, and the power of the announcer.
After it aired, I'd call on Gary for a favor now and then, and he always called back, and whether he was leaving a message or speaking to me in person, he'd always say, "Hi, John. It's Gary Owens."
Yes, Gary, I knew it was you. How could that remarkable voice be anybody else?
I'm terribly sad that phone call will never come again. Gary died Thursday; he was 80.
Here's the whole interview, from the Off-Ramp archive.