JOHN A. GAMBLING

John A. Gambling—host of Rambling with Gambling on WOR/New York City— entertained morning radio listeners six days a week for over 30 years.

After Dartmouth, he became production assistant for his father, John B. Gambling, and later filled in for him on occasion—until 1959 when John B. retired and John A. took over the program. Morning drive-time “easy listening” evolved into “all talk” and included weather, consumer reports, sportscasts with personality and the first helicopter traffic reports on radio.

According to columnist and fan James Brady, John’s “incorrigible optimism” is his on-air trademark and unofficial motto. Sportscaster Don Criqui has observed “what you hear on the air is what he is off the air—I’ve never seen him have a bad day.” It is known that John A. Gambling was always genuinely fond of the competition—another part of what made him the outstanding broadcaster he was and is.

When John A. retired in 1991, his son, John R. Gambling, continued as host of the morning show on WOR/New York until September 2000. Three generations on the radio... “radio’s oldest dynasty” they’ve been called. Quite a legacy.

John A. Gambling died on January 8, 2004 of heart failure.

He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2000.