Editing Jean Shepherd (section)

====Sweetheart Soap====
When he was about to be released by WOR in 1956 for lack of sponsors, he did a commercial for Sweetheart Soap, not a sponsor, and was immediately fired. His listeners besieged WOR with complaints, and when Sweetheart offered to sponsor him, he was reinstated.<ref>Staff (September 1, 1956). "Sheperd, WOR May Again be Sweethearts". ''Billboard''. New York, New York.</ref><ref>Allison, Jane (September 2, 1956). "Phantom Author has Dizzy Hoosier Label", ''The Indianapolis Star''.</ref> Eventually, he attracted more sponsors than he wanted{{snd}}the commercials interrupted the flow of his monologues. Former WOR engineer, Frank Cernese, adds, "The commercials of that era were on 'ETs'{{snd}}phonograph records about 14" in diameter. Three large turntables were available to play them in sequence. Shepherd preferred the engineer to watch and listen to his stories. That left little time to load the turntables and cue the appropriate cuts. That was when he started complaining about "too many commercials".{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}

[[File:Jean Shepherd, RIT NandE 1973 Feb2 Complete.jpg|thumb|right|Shepherd circa 1973]]

His last WOR broadcast was on April 1, 1977.<ref>Adams, Val (March 21, 1977). "3 More 'Resign' at WOR". ''New York Daily News''.</ref> His subsequent radio work consisted of short segments on several other stations, including crosstown [[WCBS (AM)|WCBS]],<ref>Staff (October 27, 1977). "New Series for Shepherd", ''New York Daily News''.</ref> and occasional commentaries on [[NPR]]'s ''[[All Things Considered]]''.<ref>Smith, Cecil (February 9, 1985). "Shepherd: Actor, Humorist, Writer ... A Shifting Role from Coast to Coast". ''The Los Angeles Times''.</ref> His final radio gig was the Sunday-night radio show ''Shepherd's Pie'' on [[WBAI]] in the mid-1990s {{citation needed|date=May 2025}}, which had him reading his stories uncut, uninterrupted, and unabridged. The show was one of WBAI's most popular of the period.

In addition to his stories, his shows also contained humorous anecdotes and commentaries about the human condition, observations about New York City life, accounts of vacations in Maine, and travels throughout the world. One striking program recounted his participation in the [[March on Washington]] in August 1963, during which [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] gave his "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech, and another program that aired on November 25, 1963, covered the burial of assassinated President [[John F. Kennedy]].

Throughout his radio career, he performed without scripts. His friend and WOR colleague [[Barry Farber]] marveled at how he could talk so long with so few notes. During a radio interview, Shepherd claimed that some shows took weeks to prepare, but this may have been in the planning rather than the writing of a script. On most of his Fourth of July broadcasts, he did read one of his most enduring and popular short stories, "Ludlow Kissel and the Dago Bomb that Struck Back", about a neighborhood drunk and his disastrous fireworks escapades. In the 1960s and 1970s, his WOR show ran from 11:15&nbsp;pm to midnight, later changed to 10:15&nbsp;pm to 11&nbsp;pm, so his "Ludlow Kissel" reading was synchronized to many New Jersey and New York local town fireworks displays, which would typically reach their climax at 10&nbsp;pm. It was possible, on one of those July 4 nights, to park one's car on a hilltop and watch several different [[pyrotechnic]] displays, accompanied by Shepherd's storytelling.