RICHARD J. MILLER: IN MEMORIAM
December 29, 2012 6:50 pm | Author: Jerry Berger
A death in the family. . .All the words so dear to St. Louisans – urbane, worldly, cultured – applied to Richard J. Miller. He left an indelible trademark on our town. He had the grand style , the kind we don’t see much around here anymore: courteous without being bored about it, cultured without affectation, aware of great changes without being afraid of them, generous with time. I’ve known Richard since he arrived here from New York’s elite upper east side. Fresh out of private schools and college, he bought a radio station here through his father’s generosity. His dad, the late David Miller, was an accountant by trade and was admired and respected by his clients, that included mob bosses who owned a chain of gay bars and restaurants in Manhattan. Once, Richard opened scrapbooks of photos and commented, “See, (Murder, Inc.’s) Meyer Lansky was at my bar mitzvah.” David impressed the mob with his honesty and was gifted the entire portfolio of properties by the mob bosses about the time Lucky Luciano was deported to Italy, according to Richard. Richard did his homework on broadcast with a hands-on approach and through the years, he owned several stations here. He became a virtual walking encyclopedia of broadcast and was widely quoted by the media about radio trends. On Jan. 18, Miller was to be honored at Ameristar’s Rock ‘n Roll Room by former record distributors, disc jockeys and former radio station employees. Towards the end of his life, Miller became depressed over his surviving wife, the former Mary Jane Gleason, about her battle with Parkinsons disease and the takeover of Truman Bank, which he founded. Richard and Mary Jane became a twosome 39 years ago, when she was a salesperson at his radio station. Richard’s death at Missouri Baptist Medical Center was the result of a heart attack following a bout with pneumonia. Sadly, Mary Jane’s brother, James Gleason, died Dec. 4. Through the years, Richard pushed the boundaries of aging. He never said “goodbye” in person or on the telephone. He’d simply say to me, “Stand by, Pops!”
Like the posters he loved, Richard added color to this world. Epitomized the term eccentric; I remember the first time he met my son, Zak…we’re walking into Schnucks on Olive at Spoede as Richard is leaving…I introduce Richard to Zak who was around 9 years old at the time; “how do you do young man” as they shake hands-Richard reaches into his grocery bag and proceeds to open a box of fudgsicles and says to Zak, “stand by, you must have one of these right now, there simply the best!” As Richard departs, my son asks me, “is he crazy dad?” “No babe,” I reply, “he is eccentric, there’s a difference.” Richard made me smile-he will be missed.
I first met Richard when I returned to St. Louis from Detroit. I had been at WDRQ/Detroit, and came back to St.Louis to work at the sister station here: KSLQ-FM (now Y98)…that was in 1973.
Two years later Richard asked me to take over as Program Director of KADI AM/FM, which I did and piloted the station to #5 in the market…beating KSHE for the first time. I again worked for Richard from 1984-1985, and came back in 1986 to 2001…a Total of 17 years at 96.3 FM
What you had to understand was this: If you worked for Richard once, and proved your loyalty, your craftsmanship, your professionalism…you could work for him forever, because he knew you, trusted you, and respected you. And, once that happened you were in an elite group…because R.J., as Shakespeare once put it “…didn’t suffer fools easily”.
He demanded quality…and he was the B-E-S-T. Period.
He was my friend, and I miss him already.
My favorite story about Richard was when he was being dunned by a bill collector who refused to leave until he saw him. The receptionist kept telling the guy he wasn’t there, but he stood firm and said he knew he was there and wasn’t leaving until he got an audience. Trapped, Richard pulled a military officer’s uniform out of his closet, put it on and backed out of the office door saying, “thanks, Mr. Miller,” and walked out leaving the empty office for the collector to wonder how he disappeared. I bought a lot of ads from him over the years. Once when a schedule ended, I heard our ads still running. I called him up and he said, “well, we sell time, once the time is gone, we never get it back, so if it can help you out, maybe you will make some money and buy some more ads.” Later, I learned he went to all my competitors and told them they should look at the schedule we were buying, so it must be working for us. Radio doesn’t have the characters like Richard and Nancy Poole, et al. anymore.
Everyone has numerious Richard stores. I have tape of the KXOK contest with Charlie Brown when they called him… for the longest time he was listed in the phonebook as “Slim Pickins”. Big Jack Davis referred to him on air as “Kansas City Slim”. Prince Knight worked for him at KUDL in KC. He often signed station memos as Richard Schemdrick. Just a wonderful man that will never be forgotten. RIP my friend….
…and a KXLW (1320AM) while the format was still a bit of Country, then Chicago style blues, and jazz/blues with Jesse “Spider” Burks, Richard thought it would be fun to put a DJ with a THICK English accent into the mix…well it got everyone talking, and he sat with me and 4 friends in the transmitter building talking about what WE thought could stimulate the radio market. He was always asking questions, always looking up into what would be hot…he found it in so many ways…and was gracious, funny, irreverent, and honest. Nice man, sad loss, gone but never forgotten.
Whenever someone tells me I’m eccentric I respond “No, my friend Richard Miller is eccentric.” What a wonderful personality and person. He will be missed. Godspeed Richard….
I love you Richard…I lost my Best Man…!
Love is stronger than grief..God bless you Richard and always remember the buzzword was: “Kaiserschmarrn”.
I’m stunned and saddened. Now that a little time has passed since I found out, I’m able to smile and reminisce about Richard, to whom I’ll always owe a big thanks for my first radio gig as a kid coming out of St. Louis University in May of 1975. And he always called me “kid!” After 3 years at KADI, I moved over to KSLQ (Y98) and I missed the interaction with one of the most distinctive characters in local radio…anywhere. Godspeed, Richard. I hope to see you again in Heaven, where the music never stops (sorry, RJ, no trade-outs up there).
Good good stuff on the way…what a guy!
We shared many meals, many stories and many laughs. Thank you my friend.