Much has been written and spoken about Jim Maloof. And rightfully so. He touched thousands of lives, including mine. I’ve had the good fortune to know Jim for over 43 years. The friendship really began to blossom in November of 1971 when he inked an agreement with Methodist Hospital on behalf of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. In January of 1972, the 5th floor of Methodist’s Glen Oak Wing became the first St. Jude Affiliate in the country. Peoria pediatrician Dr. Robert Hart began treating children with cancer following St. Jude protocols. As Director of Community Relations for Methodist, Jim asked me to work with Marge Crowl, the affiliate’s first executive director, on fund-raising and communications. We published “The St. Jude Star,” the clinic’s first newsletter. Jim had a constant presence at Methodist. We saw the Teen March grow with leaps and bounds as we visited local and area schools seeking volunteers. There were regular meetings at the hospital and in his office led by Jim’s boundless enthusiasm and energy. I loved being around the guy.

When he brought Danny Thomas to Peoria for a huge fund-raising dinner, Jim asked me to be the emcee. Wow! Working before the famed Danny Thomas and a sold out audience was a thrill beyond description. That thrill was extended when I introduced Danny the next day to the student body in the Methodist School of Nursing. As we walked to the school, Danny extended his hand to mine and said, “Roger, your performance as emcee last night was one of

the best I’ve ever seen. Congratulations for a job well-done.” Jim Maloof made that possible. I could never thank him enough. He did more. Jim allowed me to help on the St. Jude Telethon at the Shrine Mosque interviewing on camera the parents of patient Clay Johnson. Memorable relationships and friendships were made with children and their families through Jim and St. Jude.

When “Breakfast with Royce and Roger” was introduced to Peoria radio, among our biggest supporters and cheerleaders was Jim Maloof. And if you missed our tribute to Jim on Monday, January 21, you missed one of the most entertaining and funny radio programs in local radio history. I replayed portions of Jim’s 88th birthday celebration, October 18, 2007, on WOAM. It featured Jim, Pete Vonachen, George Shadid, Kevin Lyons, John Bearce, Royce Elliott, and this writer. It was a laugh riot with Jim as the center of attention.

Jim’s life was filled with love for everyone. He was motivated to inspire and uplift people of all ages, especially children with cancer. I’m grateful to Jim for his kindness and thankful that he was my friend. He’s now in Heaven hugging and singing for family and friends, including St. Jude children.

FIRE THE COACH!

It’s common practice in sports. When a team falters, as in loses too much, the coach or manager is fired. Why not? You can’t get rid of the players, at least in college. In Champaign, despite an outstanding record, Bruce Weber was fired by the University of Illinois when his basketball team came unglued after a great and impressive start last season. The university then hired John Groce from Ohio University. Groce, like Weber last year, saw his Illini team this season take off like a rocket and then burn out like a cheap cigar. Once a top 10 team, Illinois has dropped out of the rankings. Now take a look at Weber’s Kansas State team this year. The Wildcats are 15 and 3 with one loss in the Big 12, and that was to Kansas, rated 3rd in the nation. Kansas State is ranked 11th. I wonder if Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas still thinks Bruce Weber can’t coach.

I DON’T UNDERSTAND

I continue to be confused by the administration and board of Peoria School District 150, past and present. They closed Woodruff, they said, to save $1 million. Since then the board has approved millions in new construction, land and house purchases, and extensive renovations of Peoria High. Despite denials, well-placed community sources say the board is planning to sell the Peoria Stadium and then build a new athletic field close to Peoria High. Meanwhile, Woodruff remains a far more modern building and campus with an up-to-date swimming pool, baseball field, and football field complete with a running track. Sadly, the school is virtually empty. And listen to this. Sports teams from Peoria High use the Woodruff athletic fields. Does this make sense? I could understand the irrational thinking if Peoria was Springfield or Washington D.C. Board members are fine people, but even fine people make poor decisions exhibiting bad judgment. I don’t think there’s a single soul on the board with management experience in high finance and few, if any, have any children in District 150 schools. Meanwhile, listen to the district’s treasurer, Dave Kinney, justifying spending taxpayer money for real estate purchases: “This is not necessarily where we want to be spending our money, but the opportunities came up.” He added the district has no plans for the land and houses. By the way, Mr. Kinney, it isn’t (our) your money, its taxpayer money. I’ve never seen an elected body make so many bad decisions.

EYE ON MEDIA

A retired Bradley faculty member was quoted in the Peoria Journal that the 22nd Amendment establishing term limits on the office of the President of the United States was a mistake. Really?

Why am I not surprised since college campuses are liberal bastions. I wonder why the instructor didn’t retire to Cuba, North Korea or North Viet Nam where they don’t have term limits.

When it was announced that President Obama was lifting the ban on women serving in combat WMBD-TV interviewed 16 and 17 year old high school students. Fox News interviewed a retired female Air Force Colonel and a male officer who served in Iraq. Anyone wonder why more and more people are switching to Fox News?

Did you see the video clip of weatherman Al Roker acting like a squealing teenager at a Justin Bieber concert? As President Obama and his wife were walking in the Washington D.C. parade, Roker kept yelling, “Mr. President! Mr. President! Mr. President! Mr. President!” Showing presidential maturity and wisdom, the president continued to walk without stopping for the screaming Roker. Undaunted by his failure, Roker did manage to get Joe Biden to come over and jumped with joy like a high school football player scor ing his first touchdown. Roker needs to avoid drinks with caffeine before going on air.

Big headlines and story in the Peoria Journal on Friday, January 25, was the announcement that Congressman Aaron Shock was going to run for Governor of Illinois. I wrote about that months ago. It’s been a story for a long time. I guess to WMAQ-TV and the Peoria Journal it’s breaking news. They’re just now catching up to the Community Word and WOAM in Peoria and WSB radio in Atlanta, Georgia.

Aaron Shock has been targeted by a nationally known conservative, Erick Erickson. Erickson is founder of the popular conservative web site, RedState.com. He’s also a contributor to CNN and host of his own show on WSB-AM and FM in Atlanta, Georgia, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. You can also hear it on the Internet. The wealthy Erickson is the apparent source for the repetitious TV ads attacking Shock “for massive tax hikes.” The ads have been running on TV stations in a number of cities in Shock’s 18th District sponsored by the Jobs & Progress Fund. Among the cities receiving time buys were Peoria, Springfield, and Champaign. The ad buy ended Saturday, January 26, much to the relief, I’m sure, of Shock. An official with WICS-TV in Springfield said the buy for WICS and its sister station in Champaign amounted to $34,300. Shock’s attorney sent letters to stations carrying the ads demanding that the ads immediately cease because they are “blatantly false.” My efforts to contact Erickson at WSB were unsuccessful. His name is apparently connected to the Jobs & Progress fund.

BEWARE!!!!!!

We’ve been warned! Hide the wife and children! Karl Rove, a Republican, is coming to town. For some reason whenever a well-known Republican is invited to come and speak in Peoria, liberals have seizures. A left-wing radical comes and no Republican or anyone, for that matter, cares. But, it’s a totally different story for a Republican like Karl Rove. The smear merchants come out of the woodwork and they huff and puff and write and quote other smear merchants. Ann Coulter factually wrote about it in her best selling book, “Slander,” as did former liberal CBS-TV broadcaster Bernie Goldberg in his best seller, “Bias.” I know the smear merchants hope that someday they’ll be able to make it illegal to speak or write anything they oppose. You know as in Cuba or Nazi Germany.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.” – Abraham Lincoln