Eight years ago on a lonely drive through Death Valley, a single radio station flickered in-and-out and finally held steady. It wasn’t the first time I had heard Car Talk, but it was the first time I listened. By the end of the hour, I was laughing and feeling a lot less lonely. Since then, I’ve taken Tom and Ray along on two cross country drives, dozens of airplane rides, and countless long walks through the woods, and in all that time, they’ve never failed to make me laugh.
I listened, and continue to listen each week, because Car Talk is about more than cars. Seeing the many tributes, I’m sure that I’m not alone when I say that we listen to learn a little about cars and a lot about life, to hear the jovial vitality of Tom and Ray’s banter, and to feel the lightening of our hearts.
Tom and his hearty laugh will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by many, and for me, I will never forget that first drive through the desert.