BBC NEWS | UK | Obituary: John Dunn
It's not every day I turn on the radio and hear of the passing of someone I've actually met.
Don't worry, this isn't a bid to bandwagon jump or claim fame by association. I met him once about 20 years ago. My Dad used to do a lot of promotional work with BBC Radio 2 and for a time had a regular spot on John Dunn's program. Consequently, one evening I found myself in the studio at 5:55 pm (5 minutes before air time).
We were introduced. He immediately recognised my surname and asked after my Dad. I've no idea how many new people he met daily but I suspect it was a lot and I was impressed that he could recall names and people so easily. He broadcast to 3 million people for two hours every day and I was just some kid - he didn't need to impress me or even pay much attention to me - but he eagerly invited me into his studio to show off some new technology they'd just installed.
It was a CD player. He was thrilled with it and his enthusiasm was infectious. I was listening to him explain how it would save time when cueing up the records when I glanced at the clock.
"Mr Dunn, you're on in a minute.."
"No, it's OK, don't worry..." he was playing with the CD tray "...see how this works..?"
"Maybe I should go? It's 30 seconds"
He saw that I was a bit nervous and we shook hands as I thanked him for his hospitality. He cheerfully waved goodbye as I slipped out the door just as the red light came on. The he turned round and started chatting to 3 million other people in exactly the same friendly way he'd just been chatting to me.
It takes a special kind of person to do that. And not many of them manage to be such gentlemen while they're doing it.
posted at 9:19 AM
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