I'm jealous of people who find their life's work early. For some, discovery begins in elementary school.
Ray was a very nice and outgoing guy. He got along well with everyone, including the teachers.
The rest of us tried to blend in with the teachers, praying they wouldn't call us. We never raised our hands unless we wanted to go to the bathroom.
In music class they asked us to sing alone. The girls would sing something sweet and lyrical. But the boys would choose simple melodies that required little vocal range.
Each of us stood up, bellowed something like a moose call, and sat down. If the whole song only had three or four notes, we'd be fine with that.
But Ray would stand up and say something like, "I'd like to sing one of my favorite Broadway songs." Then he would launch in, acapella. This amazed the girls and horrified the boys.
Around sixth grade, Ray's voice changed to a low-baritone and he occasionally gave school announcements. In high school, this guy started working part-time at local top 40 radio, writing comedy scripts and making real money.
In college he had his own music talk show and then had great success. He was hired by increasingly larger radio stations and then, for decades, had his own morning show in a major market.
Today he is the owner of a company that records his voice and that of other professionals. He still hears it in commercials.
I ran into him at a grocery store not long ago. He greeted me and started talking.
But I couldn't help but feel as if he had left the radio on.