God Bless You, Gene…

Today Mary emailed me the bad news: Dr. Gene Scott is dead at 75.

Mary and I stumbled across Dr. Scott while we were in graduate school at UMass. His show came on at something like 2 o'clock in the morning. His big issue was the link between the British Royal family and the Lost Tribes of Israel, and when he wasn't illustrating the connection with some rather amazing and complicated diagrams on his giant whiteboard, he was waiting for you to pick up the phone and give to the cause. During his many pledge breaks, he would show home-made videos of people riding on horses, while the Boss's "Born in the USA" would play in the background. (I'm sure God forgave him for the copyright violations.)

Dr. Scott had a unique style about him. On the shows I watched, he often wore a naval cap with a pair of sunglasses perched atop it. He used reading glasses as well, and had no qualms about pulling the sunglasses down and wearing both pairs simultaneously if need be. He also liked to shout at his audience, although it was hard sometimes to keep up with exactly what he was talking about. All in all, it was a fun show to watch.

After leaving Massachusetts, I've never seen his show again. And now, I guess, I'll never get another chance. But thanks for the memories, Dr. Scott, and God bless.