NPR has reported that Tom Magliozzi, the co-host of “Car Talk”, has passed away. Tom was 77. The cause of death is reported to be Alzheimer’s.
Magliozzi hosted the show with his younger brother, Ray, from 1977 until 2012. The show remained on the air after their retirement with material that had previously unaired.
In a statement announcing his brother’s death, Ray said: “Turns out he wasn’t kidding. He really couldn’t remember last week’s puzzler.”
That humor is characteristic of the popular, long-running show, which first aired 37 years ago. During the hour-long call-in program, the brothers helped callers with their car problems.
But that was just the show’s framing, not its heart. Ray and Tom’s fans came back, week after week, for the brothers’ banter, what “Car Talk’s” statement called a “uniquely Boston-Italian style of expressing affection through friendly insults and teasing.”
The show was full of personalities: the callers, the brothers, and the cars – often clunkers – themselves.
Read the full story: Car Talk Co-Host Tom Magliozzi Has Died
