An incredible ride

Well, I guess we're coming up on that time of year again: steeling myself for John Batchelor to go on summer vacation. No one deserves a vacation more, and he gets fine people to sub for him. I’m remembering Trooper Monica (Crowley) and Guy in Truck (Eric Shawn) sitting in, and last year the redoubtable ‘Chief Inspector’ John Terrett. And Larry Kudlow, who was still recovering from hip surgery during his week of subbing.

But I look back with nostalgia to a time when John simply ran repeats of some radio shows while he was away. And what shows they were. I think I probably speak for many Americans when I observe that I learned and rediscovered much about American history from John Batchelor segments.

And I don’t know how I would have managed to stay immersed in the War on Terror if not for John’s show. There are so many convergent situations, so many branches of the war, and so much bad news in the headlines that I think I would have tuned out after a year of it.

None of that ever fazed John Batchelor and his roster of regular guests. He turned war reporting and analysis into an incredible ride. He pointed out what was important and what was chaff and wrested order out of the chaos of conflicting reports and propaganda. The ride took the listeners to a hilltop and showed us the terrain below, in the way a general and his aides took to the highest ground in olden days to watch the battle unfold.

Bon voyage, John Batchelor – and thanks for your radio show!