WWSC countdown to 75 — Connecting with a radio legend

This is the latest in an occasional series of posts leading up to the 75th anniversary of Glens Falls radio station WWSC on Dec. 18, 2021.

WWSC announcer Ralph Romano in 1957 urged listeners and Post-Star readers to send postcards to legendary NBC racing announcer Clem McCarthy.

“McCarthy is a patient at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and seriously ill,” The Post-Star reported on Dec. 3, 1957. “He would like to hear from his many friends in the city and area. A post card sent McCarthy at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York will help cheer him.”

McCarthy had recently written to Romano recalling that Glens Falls had its own racing history when the local Mile Track was a stop on the Grand Circuit of racing in 1897–1901.

McCarthy thought some listeners might remember him and want to connect.

The gravely-voiced McCarthy, who called his last Kentucky Derby in 1951, is perhaps best known today for a gaffe at the 1947 Preakness when he mistakenly called Jet Pilot the winner instead of Faultless.

Walter Winchell, in a column published May 15, 1947 in The Post-Star, goaded McCarthy for the mistake.

“Well you can’t blame it (Jet Pilot’s loss) on dear old Clem McCarthy. Clem gave him a PERFECT ride.”

McCarthy died in June 1962 at age 79.

Click here to read the most recent previous post in the series.