http://www.youtube.com/v/HRfGb1a3Z6k&hl=en&fs=1
“Dare to be great!”
Andrew Ashwood
American Broadcaster
In the past twelve hours the reality of the chapters we write has hit me harder than a Little League pitcher’s first day on the mound. Hands shaking, eyes darting from first to third base, uniform still muddied from last weeks attempt in left field, the presented determination is to spend the entire day forcing the batter to dodge shots meant for the head and shoulders only to learn the untrained wild toss from an unexpected passion to change the game whaps the player in the heart in ways that silences the artist’s secret hiding place.
Countless times I’ve pitched the Andrew Ashwood ball…talking highly of an extremely dedicated radio disc jockey blessed with every opportunity to fade into place modern ways of conducting conversation. Those who created with him or competed against him speak the same the same language…it usually starts off with a child’s just got caught smile with an addictive giggle waiting impatiently to bust from the seams sewn by the gentle giants passion to never stop digging into a talents planet to locate the reason for their being.
Great mentors are paid invisible cash…they bring injury in ways that anger their followers, ripping dreams to shreds while feverishly shoving round sticks into square holes in the way of rebuilding separate shacks that house stronger futures fed by rivers of quality versus quantity…a constant grind on a single slab of granite begging not to be remembered but affective.
Losing a leader of this magnitude last December affects not a sliver of the pie but all too often a generation or three he’ll never meet. For those left giggling about his Dan Haggerty gentleness and Clint Eastwood slanted eyes barely middle aged toughness remember their one-on-one times and how his impeccable vision to teach people to deal with constant change influenced a noticeable difference.
He foresaw therefore he taught…
Tapping his name into the blank space on You Tube, you’re quickly introduced to the other radio family members he picked up because of a radio station sale, bad deal or someone he met at a morning show boot camp in search of Simon Cowell before his time…a performer who carved without ever throwing anyone to the side. His confidence reeked but always for the best. His daily demands to research barely spoken words that shot into his thick skull while driving to work educated the average radio guy in ways of introducing them to newer ways to communicate with and not to the radio listener who just happened to land on your station for a favorite song or because the knob broke off and fell to the floor and they couldn’t pick up fast enough to change the dial again.
Seeing the video for the first time brought reality to a rumor…he’s gone.
Reliving the news came on the day The Children’s Miracle Network shared with me their highest International Award for radio station presentation. It’s as if Andrew had somehow been standing with me the entire way and without notice seeing the You Tube presentation was his continued mentoring way of saying, “What’s in it for the listener? If you can’t find anything to share that affects that person’s life…don’t waste their time, they already have too much to do and then you want to add your self loved vocals to their congested day. Give me a break!”
This award belongs to you Andrew…
Thank you for sharing with me your vision of constantly expecting change and having the courage to sit down with me in your office on Radio Road and say, “I see something better than being a disc jockey in you. You are my new production person. I have no clue what goes on in there but you better figure it out fast or you’re not going to be on the Andrew Team. And once you locate the answer I better not catch you slipping back on the radio as a jock until you’ve learned how to teach it. That’s your new job if you want to work with me. Now figure it out and make it work.”
“Phenomenal!”
Andrew’s second most famous quote…if you earned one of these, it was better than getting Employee of the Year and a Grammy. The only way you earn it, live it breathe it? You had to, "Dare to be great."
Steal his art…
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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