We woke up this morning to the news that our author and good friend Chet Coppock passed away in a car crash. We were in the midst of putting the finishing touches on his next book when we received the news. That book will still be coming out later this summer.
We’ve been asked to contribute to a bunch of radio and television shows today to explain what Chet Coppock was all about. In his first book he did with us (“Your Dime, My Dance Floor”), Chet summed up what is it to be Chet better than we ever could…
I sometimes wish I had the ability to separate the public from the private like a Ringo Starr does. A few sonatas back, I heard a marvelous interview in which the forever Beatle was asked how he has successfully maintained the ultra-affable “This Boy” imaging for more than fifty years.
“Very simple,” Starr replied. “‘Ringo Starr’ is a puppet that I keep in a box in my closet. I take the puppet out when I need to, like to make money. Otherwise, around a home and to my friends, I’m still Ritchie Starkey, the awfully lucky lad from Liverpool. Ritchie is real. ‘Ringo’ is something else.”
I’ll admit it. I still get off when someone implies the out-of-the-box Chet Coppock is “something else.” And believe me, even though I temporarily remain shut out from a primary perch on the Chicago sportscape, that still happens a lot.
The neon “CHET COPPOCK!” to enough people remains a star. But Chet Coppock, the awfully lucky lad from Northfield, still has many nights and days gliding solo, eyeballing the seductive visions of yet another comeback and an all-new wave of successes somewhere behind a microphone.
Rest in Peace, Chet. We will never forget you.
Leave a Comment