Fridays with Red

Bob Edwards, Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship (1993)

Every Friday morning for 12 years (from 1981 to 1992) National Public Radio’s Bob Edwards would speak with former Dodgers’ announcer Red Barber in a four-minute segment which quickly became the most popular segment of NPR’s Morning Edition. Not only would Barber talk about sports headlines of the day, he would also reminisce about his days as the announcer for the Reds, Dodgers (with whom he gained national prominence) and Yankees, and discuss just about anything that popped into his head — he was particularly fond of discussing his garden, his cats and the Psalms. After Barber's death in 1992, Edwards wrote this little book, memorializing their friendship.

For a brief taste of Barber’s perspective on life, consider this exchange in November 1991 after Florida State lost to Miami in football...

Bob: Are hearts still heavy in Tallahassee this week?
Red: Well, I’ll tell you something. I was around the Ohio State-Notre Dame game in 1935, and the Bobby Thomson home run, and the Mickey Owen dropped third strike and the Chicago Bears’ 73-0 win over the Redskins. And I saw the FSU-Miami one-point game, and you know what happened the next morning?
Bob: What?
Red: The sun rose right on time. (p. 131)

Though Edwards admits that Barber was not always easy to work with, the younger man (nicknamed “Colonel Bob” by Red) clearly idolized his elder. In a eulogy which Edwards prepared for NPR, he noted that Barber “taught us respect for the listener, respect for the language and respect for the truth.” (p. 219)

The book is a must-read for anyone interested in sports journalism. Edwards’ prose is fun to read (especially the humorous little digs he takes at fellow NPR announcers), but near the end it reaches a height of poignant eloquence. “Red Barber’s ashes now are part of the Florida soil,” he writes. “His body couldn't last, but there's not another thing about him that has to die.” (p. 231)