Howie Carr

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Howie Carr


Birth name Howard Louis Carr
Born January 17, 1952 (age 55)
Portland, Maine
Show The Howie Carr Show
Station(s) WRKO
Time slot Monday-Friday, 3pm-7pm
Style Current events
Country United States
Website HowieCarr.com

Howard "Howie" Louis[1] Carr (born January 17, 1952) is an American broadcaster, award-winning journalist, New York Times best-selling author, and a highly rated talk-radio host in the greater Boston and New England area.

Contents

[edit] Background

Carr was born at the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary in Portland, Maine, to Frances Stokes Sutton, age 29, and Howard Louis Carr, Sr., age 47. Carr reports that he was raised by an aunt (Mable A. Carr) at 45 Kenwood Street in Portland.

He is a graduate of Deerfield Academy and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with his second wife, Kathy, and their three daughters, Carolyn, Charlotte, and Christina ("Tina"). He also has two other daughters from his previous marriage. Up until early 2006, Carr referred to his wife as "Submit". Prior to a signing for his new book, The Brothers Bulger, at Wellesley Free Library on March 4, 2006, Carr explained that he came across the name on a headstone in the cemetery across from his house when he lived in Acton, Massachusetts, and thought that it would be a great name for a woman because it wasn't likely to become popular again anytime soon. In the early stages of their marriage, Mrs. Carr didn't want her first name to be public knowledge, hence her husband's moniker for her. For Christmas 2005, as a gift to his wife, Carr said he would stop referring to her as Submit.

Aside from broadcasting, he is an award-winning front-page columnist for the Boston Herald. Known for his scathing exposés of local politicians, Carr seems unafraid to "take on" politicians. For example, the day after President Clinton's testimony in the Supreme Court Case Clinton v. Jones, C-SPAN broadcast Carr's radio program in its entirety.

In early 2006, Carr became a book author with the publication of his NY Times rated best selling book on Billy & Whitey Bulger, titled The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century (ISBN 0-446-57651-4).

As well as being heard on WRKO AM 680, he is syndicated across the country and streamed on-line through his Web site. He has interviewed numerous politicians, authors, and celebrities. He has worked as a reporter and commentator for Boston television stations WGBH and WLVI.

From 1980–81, Carr was the Boston City Hall bureau chief of the Boston Herald American, and he later worked as the paper's State House bureau chief. As a political reporter for WNEV (now WHDH), his coverage of then mayor Kevin White was so relentless that after the mayor announced he wasn't running again, he told the Boston Globe that one of the things he enjoyed most about his impending retirement was not having Carr chase him around the city.

In 1985, he won the National Magazine Award, the magazine industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, for Essays and Criticism. In television, he has been nominated for an Emmy Award. Carr played a talk show host, perhaps based on Jerry Williams, in the 1998 John Travolta film A Civil Action.

For years Carr has had a feud with former fellow Herald columnist Mike Barnicle, calling him a "hack" and saying he wanted to be the Herald's "nonfiction columnist" (concerning acts of plagiarism [1] Another reason for Barnicle's suspension and resignation from the Globe was fabrication of identities and situations.)[2] A Steve Bailey Globe column stated that Carr gave out Barnicle's home phone number, an allegation which is staunchly refuted by Mr. Carr. Barnicle called Carr "a pathetic figure" and asked "Can you imagine being as consumed with envy and jealousy toward me for as long as it has consumed him?" [3]

In 2002, The Boston Herald reported Superior Court Judge Ernest Murphy said of a fourteen-year old rape victim: "She can't go through life as a victim. She's 14. She got raped. Tell her to get over it." In February of the same year, Carr wrote a column criticizing the judge, positing that Murphy had a history of lenient sentencing and, in an online chat session, there were posts questioning whether or not Judge Murphy would "get over it" if his daughters had been the victims of rapes.

In June of the same year Judge Murphy filed a civil lawsuit against The Boston Herald and Carr. Mr. Murphy denied all of the allegations. Ultimately, Murphy won the suit and a resulting $2.09 million payment. During the trial, when asked what his reaction was to the Carr column, Mr. Murphy had said he "wanted to kill him".[4] Following the lawsuit, Murphy again made news by sending the The Boston Herald a letter and a demand for $3.26 million (the court award, plus pre- and post-judgment interest) on official court stationery. [5]

[edit] The Howie Carr Show

See main article here.

[edit] James "Whitey" Bulger

Carr is an expert on Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger; he even has a section of his website called "Whitey Watch" [6]. His book The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century (ISBN 0-446-57651-4), which documents the crimes and actions of Bulger and his politically active brother Billy Bulger and their impact on Massachusetts, was released in early 2006 by Warner Books. In its first week on sale, the book made the New York Times' Top 10 Best-Sellers List.

[edit] "License Plate Lottery"

In Massachusetts a low-digit license plate was often seen as a status symbol. Politicians and those connected to them were the only people, seemingly, able to obtain these plates with four, three or sometimes even only two digits. The plates are often handed down from generation to generation making it nearly impossible for someone that has no connections to get one. Howie Carr, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Motor Vehicles holds a lottery for Massachusetts residents to "win" the plates.[7]. In fact, Howie was the "winner" of the plate # 9823 in the 2004 lottery.[8]

[edit] Nicknames

Carr is known by the following nicknames:

  • "Baby-faced Assassin" - given to him in his younger years.
  • "Brittle Bastard" - attributed to his self-disclosed osteoporosis.
  • "Cap'n" - self-named by Howie when he once went out and interviewed "bums" to lampoon a Boston area community's distribution of vouchers for the homeless. Carr would offer either money for alcohol or sizeable vouchers for food to the homeless. The homeless men always chose the drink. To get the cash, Howie requested that they called him "Cap'n" before awarding the gift. It is used affectionately by the listeners and Carr.
  • "Fat Bastard" - used by listeners often in jest, though Carr uses the term to describe Ted Kennedy.
  • "Paper Boy" - given to him in honor of his job as a journalist.
  • "A Civil Howie" - in jest for his role in the film "A Civil Action".

Carr has given nicknames to several people:

  • Doug "Virgin Boy" Goudy, Carr's former producer, received his nickname due to the fact he lived at home with his mother and did not have a driver's license, which led Carr to surmise that he was a virgin.
  • Boston Mayor Thomas M. "Mumbles" Menino received his nickname on the show for his poor diction. The name is taken from the Dick Tracy cartoon character. Carr often play clips of the mayor, poking fun at him.
  • Senator John "Liveshot" Kerry received his nickname, coined by Carr, for his propensity for seeking out a news camera.
  • Senator Edward M. "Fat Boy" Kennedy received his nickname on the show due to his weight.
  • Nicky "Pockets" Mavroules, D-Massachusetts, an ultra-liberal nuclear-freeze proponent who later went to prison.
  • Marty "T as in Taliban" Meehan (or "Midas" Meehan), the liberal, anti-war Massachusetts congressman.
  • William "The Corrupt Midget" Bulger, the ex-president of the Massachusetts State Senate, University of Massachusetts and brother of notorious mobster James "Whitey" Bulger. The moniker was actually hung on President Bulger by Judge E. George Daher after Bulger attempted to defund the state's Housing Court. Referring to Governor Michael Dukakis, who was then running for president, Daher demanded, "How's he going to stand up to the Russians when he can't stand up to the corrupt midget?"
  • Charlie "Good Time" Flaherty, the disgraced ex-speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
  • Tom "Tommy Taxes" Finneran, also "Felon" Finneran, another disgraced ex-speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives; Howie's coworker at WRKO.
  • Tom "Unfortunately" Reilly, the Massachusetts Attorney General and 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate who usually begins his press conferences with the word "unfortunately" after losing another case. The use of the word 'unfortunately' in a Reilly campaign ad (spoken by a voiceover man) has been played as a sound cut.
  • Charles "Chuckles" Reardon, ex-sheriff of Essex County [9]
  • Cheryl Jacques, rhymes with "fakes," ex-state senator in Massachusetts.
  • "Fat Matt" Matthew J. Amorello, the tubby ex-Massachusetts Turnpike chairman.
  • "Honest John" McGonigle, ex-sheriff of Middlesex County
  • Lt. Governor "Muffy" Kerry Healey, as well as "Little Bo Prep" regarding accusations of elitist attitudes. On September 20, 2006, Carr told Healey he would consider "benching" the "Muffy" nickname "for the duration of the campaign". Earlier in the show, Carr's board operator referred to Healey as "Muffy the Moonbat Slayer".
  • Kevin "Money Fitz" Fitzgerald, ex-state representative. Allegedly convinced a dying homeless woman to leave him money in her will.
  • Congressman Patrick "Patches" Kennedy, D-Rhode Island, son of Edward Kennedy. From the Clarence Carter song. A sarcastic jab at the Kennedy, whom Carr considers least likely to improve the family's reputation. [10]
  • State Rep. Paul "Racehorse" Kujawski, D-Webster. Carr used the nickname in a Boston Herald column after Kujawski's August 2004 arrest for drunken driving and open and gross lewdness. According to police, he urinated on the side of U.S. Route 20 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, in front of a state trooper [11].

[edit] Trivia

  • Howie Carr has related on air that he had a vasectomy, that he suffers from osteoporosis and emphysema. Not only did Howie Carr have a vasectomy, another talk show host from the radio station broadcast live from the "event." On the air later in the day, he informed listeners that, as advised by doctors, he was sitting on a bag of frozen peas to ease the pain.
  • He routinely refers to gays as "sodomites" (and the homeless as "bums") on his radio show and in his column.[2]

[edit] Awards and Recognition

  • Placed 50th on trade journal "Talkers Magazine's" list of the 2007 "Heavy Hundred". The list ranks what the magazine considers the most popular, influential, or entertaining talk-show hosts from around the country.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The incorrect middle name of Lawrence - popularized by longtime producer Doug "VB" ("Virgin Boy") Goudy - was confirmed by Carr on his August 7, 2006 show on WRKO.
  2. ^ http://news.bostonherald.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=166555
  3. ^ Simon, Clea (2007-03-02). Area talk hosts among biz's. Boston Globe. Retrieved on March 26, 2007.

[edit] External links

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