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NYC Liberal

(20,135 posts)
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 11:08 AM Jun 2014

Legendary radio personality Casey Kasem dies at 82

Source: CNN

Casey Kasem, who entertained radio listeners for almost four decades as the host of countdown shows such as "American Top 40" and "Casey's Top 40," died early Sunday, according to a Facebook post from his daughter Kerri Kasem.

Casey Kasem was 82 and had been hospitalized in Washington state for two weeks.

"Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken," Kerri Kasem wrote. "Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. The world will miss Casey Kasem, an incredible talent and humanitarian; we will miss our Dad."

Kerri Kasem said friends and family were by her father's side when he died.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/15/showbiz/casey-kasem-obit/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

46 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Legendary radio personality Casey Kasem dies at 82 (Original Post) NYC Liberal Jun 2014 OP
His voice will carry on liberal N proud Jun 2014 #1
My favorite... mikeysnot Jun 2014 #2
... progressoid Jun 2014 #3
He was obviously very frustrated about an ongoing problem. Producer should have fixed that issue. RBInMaine Jun 2014 #38
I'll always rember him from Transformers. AngryAmish Jun 2014 #4
never knew the voice actors PatrynXX Jun 2014 #9
me too. Cliffjumper, Bluestreak and Teletraan 1 roguevalley Jun 2014 #34
Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars nt HomerRamone Jun 2014 #5
American Top 40! hamsterjill Jun 2014 #15
I'm listening to his show on Sirius-XM right now Omaha Steve Jun 2014 #6
I listen to it about every weekend. LeftofObama Jun 2014 #27
that wife of his is in trouble now PatrynXX Jun 2014 #7
Not Sure erpowers Jun 2014 #16
Been there! mntleo2 Jun 2014 #31
Sorry erpowers Jun 2014 #35
Sorry I just had to rant I knew why she brought him to WA State ... mntleo2 Jun 2014 #45
Now checking in at number 82, it is the legendary Casey Kasem ... SkatmanRoth Jun 2014 #8
Niiiiiiiiice one! marble falls Jun 2014 #10
+1.. Historic NY Jun 2014 #13
He has a dedicated channel on the IHeart Radio phone app LTR Jun 2014 #18
nice Botany Jun 2014 #20
Someone once described him as having a 'polyurethane voice'. Aristus Jun 2014 #11
RIP, Shaggy... Tom_Foolery Jun 2014 #12
Zoinks ... Drifter Jun 2014 #24
synonymous with my growing up with music 'Casey's Coast to Coast'... can still hear it all tomm2thumbs Jun 2014 #14
And I can't believe what his family did to him alp227 Jun 2014 #17
I don't know that it was that clear cut. forthemiddle Jun 2014 #25
no, the problem was just his current wife and how she kept every other family and friend away JI7 Jun 2014 #32
RIP Casey, you had a comforting voice, thanks for the Top Forty. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #19
The voice of my youth playing the soundtrack of my youth. Boomerproud Jun 2014 #21
End of an era, for sure. His suffering is over. Unfortunately the family he left behind will calimary Jun 2014 #22
When I see Jean on the tv news.............. Capt.Rocky300 Jun 2014 #33
let's not forget ... justsomeguy01 Jun 2014 #23
He did an episode on the original Hawaii Five O Hawaii Hiker Jun 2014 #26
As they say in the business undeterred Jun 2014 #28
In light of the familiy difficulties ongoing, a very nice and heartfelt statement from the family. marble falls Jun 2014 #29
My long-distance dedication Alex P Notkeaton Jun 2014 #30
R.I.P. BumRushDaShow Jun 2014 #36
AWESOME iconic radio dj and voice actor, and good humanitarian. RIP Casey. RBInMaine Jun 2014 #37
Sunday mornings, delivering newspapers listening to the Countdown ... 1000words Jun 2014 #39
Don't forget his critical acting role... brooklynite Jun 2014 #40
R.I.P. Mr. Kasem olddad56 Jun 2014 #41
He was a big time progressive Adenoid_Hynkel Jun 2014 #42
More than a DJ, a supporter of Progressive causes such as justice for Palestine ellenrr Jun 2014 #43
The ULTIMATE long distance dedication. Rhinodawg Jun 2014 #44
Amazing man ripcord Jun 2014 #46
 

RBInMaine

(13,570 posts)
38. He was obviously very frustrated about an ongoing problem. Producer should have fixed that issue.
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 07:40 PM
Jun 2014

PatrynXX

(5,668 posts)
9. never knew the voice actors
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 11:42 AM
Jun 2014

Watched the cartoon as long as I could Peter I know now but didn't know then..

PatrynXX

(5,668 posts)
7. that wife of his is in trouble now
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 11:39 AM
Jun 2014

he died because she kidnapped him which caused a critical bed sore ie a murderer .. should be charged.

erpowers

(9,350 posts)
16. Not Sure
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 12:17 PM
Jun 2014

I am not sure the bed sore was the real problem. Casey Kasem had other health issues. It seems his wife took him to Washington state in an attempt to keep Kerri Kasam, his daugther, from seeing him so that she would not be aware of her dad's state of health. Casey Kasam had signed a document giving his daugther final say over his medical treatment. That document stated that if it could be proven that Kasam's health has gotten to a point were giving him treatment would just prolong his life, but not improve his life he wanted treatment to end. Kasam's wife disagreed with that clause.

mntleo2

(2,535 posts)
31. Been there!
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 05:32 PM
Jun 2014

Last edited Sun Jun 15, 2014, 06:12 PM - Edit history (2)

I am also the daughter who has seen the same disgusting crap. My mom and dad were married 42 years when she died of cancer rather suddenly (she did not know she had it until a month before she died). Dad immediately married ~ the exact year after my mother died. We wanted Dad to be happy and in spite of our doubts tried to be as nice to his wife and as supportive as possible. But things began to turn for the worse when she began to lie about us and tell people we were "crack addicts" and other various lies, eventually cutting us completely off from our dad.

Furthermore this harlot was a drunk and pretty much screwed anything that moved. She drunkenly tried to seduce my brother-in-law by rubbing his crotch and looking toward the bedroom. He said he wanted to vomit and refused. So she flew into a rage and told vile lies about him too for months, even claiming she saw him take drugs (NOT!) and that he had tried to seduce her. Besides the fact he is a decent man and would never do such a thing, if you ever saw this old hag, you would immediately know she would be the last person a younger man would want to screw.

We also discovered she had mysteriously "lost" two other husbands in sudden deaths as a "nurse" who promised to take care of these lonely old men. My daughter finally rescued her grandfather, my dad, after his wife had abandoned him to starve, freeze, and die, of course taking all my father's resources with her. He did not know she has gone and he was so scared of her he had stayed in the front room on a bare couch shivering in his underwear for days. This bitch had been withholding his medicines, she has been so psychologically abusive he was in a fetal position on the couch in tears when my daughter and her husband found him, terrified to move for fear she would scream at him unaware she has been gone for more than 2 weeks ~ to live on his dime in a luxurious senior community.

Once Dad got into a warm loving home, he began to think more clearly and filed for divorce,which freed up half of his assets so he could at least be cared for the last few months of his life. He arranged and paid for his grave site to be beside my mom with part of it. My daughter and her husband cared for him until he died ~ unfortunately before the divorce was completed. When my cousin called Wifey to tell her he had passed away she crowed triumphantly, "I got it allllll!" Meaning that she would take all his assets, much of which my mom had inherited from her relatives since the divorce was not completed before he died.

We found out later that the neighbors had called emergency over 20 times the last year of my dad's life, concerned for his safety and her abuse. Adult Protective Services did nothing. They let it happen, and never so much as contacted us, his children. Turns out all they are concerned about is institutions, so whatever horror happens in an elder's home is just fine with them. Hey they get their nice paychecks, their benefits, their retirement, who gives a flying damn about the hell and torture being inflicted on a helpless elder in their own home while being leeched of everything they earned?

APS not only did not do a single thing to help my dad, they could not even take 5 minutes to make a phone call to me his daughter who lived within 2 miles or to find out what I knew. We had been cut off from any communication for years except for a few furtive times when we called him in secret to let him know we loved him and missed him. In desperation to know how he was, we also kept in touch with relatives who were allowed to see him ~ of course because they were not a threat to Wifey's inheritance and it shut Dad up when he was lonely for his family. We knew something was wrong but whenever we had this precious stolen contact, he always put on a face that he was just fine. We found out later his brave face was because she or her son were listening in on the other line unbeknownst to us.

I am glad Mr Kasem's daughter tried to step in, this also happened in WA state to my dad. I suspect Wifey tried to get him to this state because she knew APS nor the law would not do anything to protect abused elders living in their own homes ~ and she would get all his assets, to hell with the suffering she caused just as long as she took over those bank accounts.

If I were married to a man with kids, I would *never* do this to my husband or his family because I know of the agony it causes for the loved ones and for him. I know how to be decent because I was taught the right things by decent parents, and while they also taught me not to brag about my qualities, it helps to know I am a better human being that anything those creeps have in their little finger!

Postscript: The worst thing about this was this subhuman piece of crap and her greedy lawyer went after my daughter and her husband for "wasting" my dad's money on his care ~ and won over $40,000 they were required to pay. Of course Greedy Lawyer got a fine chunk of the estate too ~ that's right I am talking about YOU Jill Bliss, you sharking piece of s**t! My daughter had lost her job because of her care for her grandfather as well as being the mother of two kids.

Even more disgusting, Nurse Ratchet even went after my dad's corpse in an attempt to prevent him from being buried where he wanted to be for eternity and would have won that too except the funeral home refused to release his body to her saying he had expressed his wishes, paid for his burial and they would honor those wishes. Oh thank you Ballard Funeral Home for letting my dad lay with my mom where we can pay our wishes and know where he is!

When Wifey died of alcoholism a few years later, her son, who participated in this abuse, inherited all my mother's assets, and as far as I am concerned they can both fry in hell. As a matter of fact I am glad I do not know where she is buried or I would ...let my imagination go as to what I would love to do to her grave ...!

My 2 cents

(still crying after a decade of mourning)

Cat in Seattle

PeePeeEss: Not one person involved with this abuse has paid a single thing, this is how we treat our elders nowadays. No police investigation, no APS investigation, not one single thing when these criminals should have been frog marched to jail. Indeed they were rewarded with all the assets of their victim in exchange for their torture of an old man who had everything taken from him, even his own family. No wonder Mrs Kasem brought Mr Kasem to WA State. These "officials" and "law" people could care less unless they fear a bad media report for a rest home with a killer nurse on their state funded staff or something. Freaking pigs!

mntleo2

(2,535 posts)
45. Sorry I just had to rant I knew why she brought him to WA State ...
Mon Jun 16, 2014, 03:14 PM
Jun 2014

Well the legal system is screwed up for the little guys in this state and most states. This is the fix that we all desperately need. They are all veclept about $millionaires with their inheritances (like relatives of Kasem), but they make sure to make legal stuff hard and expensive for the rest of us. I see this in family and criminal law as well ~ the same crap. You either have to be a $millionaire to get fair court hearings or you suffer with a court system that is over burdened, outdated, expensive even then, and beyond repair.

I am no lawyer, but as an advocate for many and with loved ones who I have supported, the law is undeniably skewed toward the rich in every way. IMO one of the most insidious things they have done in inheritance law is to make this state a "community property" state, meaning that spouses have rights to everything ~including inheritances from a former deceased spouse that they should have no business inheriting all of it if there are kids or other relatives who could have a stake. I can see in some cases this might be a need, don't get me wrong but ...I am sorry to say this but if a man's wife dies who inherited and with whom they spent 50 years accumulating other assets together, then the kids or close relatives should have a stake and they do not.

Now this gets complicated to say what I have because often it is the KIDS who are the elder abusers and they also should be held accountable. This is happening all the time in an elder's home where kids move in and then take over their parent's assets and abuse their parents. APS does not do one thing to protect these vulnerable adults. They only care about institutional abuse, like in a rest home, they will go to the ends of the earth and spare no expense to prove things like that someone left a slippery spot in a rest home's hallway but refuse to even make a phone call to a daughter living 2 minutes away when an old man shivering on a bare couch in his underwear after these people received over 20 calls from the neighbors because of their concern. Something is WRONG there, wouldn't ya think?

But there is little protection for an elder who trusted their kid or new wife and signed over their right to make decisions about how to handle the bills when they can no longer do this. If the kid, spouse or ANYBODY is abusive and exploitative, they should be held accountable but they are not. Because there is little in place for APS to go after these pigs, they do nothing, nada, ziltch and so the abuse goes on and on. Often the elder dies in terrible abandonment, horrible pain and misery without so much as a visit from these ...I want to call them heartless pigs ... but I will instead say these "officials" are enmeshed in an institution that helps them ignore this abuse.

Mrs Kasem most likely moved her husband to this state because she knew she would get away with her neglect and abuse. APS won't do anything to her as long as he stays in his home. People like her even commit outright murder and get away with it because well, the person was old and so smothering to death, dying because they did not get the 'right' medications, and other reasons that could involve outright abuse and neglect that (IMO) are often intentionally 'overlooked'. They are not investigated, it is just thought they died "of natural causes" and then the abuser walks away with all the assets. Done all the time here.

What is this about thinking elders have no feelings, do not matter nor should they have protections? Oh they ARE being used a political footballs by politicians who often talk about 'elder abuse' but "forget" to talk about the many, maybe more predominant ways they are being abused by family? I know talk about family abuse is touchy but they have managed to get sympathy for a kid, so why are their great-grandparents still crying alone and frightened after being locked in their basement? Not so much help for them because well, they are old ... GGRR!!

My (more than) 2 cents

Cat

LTR

(13,227 posts)
18. He has a dedicated channel on the IHeart Radio phone app
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 12:39 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.iheart.com/live/Classic-American-Top-40-6545/

All his old shows were remastered years ago and released into syndication. One of the better things Clear Channel did.

Also, foraging through the vinyl stacks at the local Goodwill or whatever can occasionally turn up an official vinyl LP copy of the show as sent to radio stations. I found one copy of a special July 4th show years back.

Tom_Foolery

(4,691 posts)
12. RIP, Shaggy...
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 11:47 AM
Jun 2014


I still remember sitting in the studio of a local radio station on Sunday mornings airing the local spots during his show. I had to cover up all the national condom spots. Small market radio, gotta love it.

tomm2thumbs

(13,297 posts)
14. synonymous with my growing up with music 'Casey's Coast to Coast'... can still hear it all
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 11:58 AM
Jun 2014

I'm sure his life was a creatively lived and fully enjoyed one... good on him.

alp227

(32,006 posts)
17. And I can't believe what his family did to him
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 12:21 PM
Jun 2014

Wasn't there this dispute between his wife and ex that kept him away from some of his kids for some time in his final days?

forthemiddle

(1,375 posts)
25. I don't know that it was that clear cut.
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 03:09 PM
Jun 2014

He was married to his current wife for 30+ years. She apparently did not want him to be removed from life support. His children from a previous marriage disagreed and Casey Kasem, himself had given medical power of attorney to his oldest daughter. I don't think this was a clear cut case of "new wife" vs. first family. It was more of a case of a long term wife (30+ years) not wanting to give up on the life of her husband, and the family not agreeing. In the end the Judge sided with his children, but it is heartbreaking all around.
Please don't disparage his wife, I don't know that I will be willing to let go of my husband that easily, even though I know his wishes are not to be kept around on life support. I feel for both sides.

JI7

(89,241 posts)
32. no, the problem was just his current wife and how she kept every other family and friend away
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 05:50 PM
Jun 2014

from him. one of his daughters finally get authority and they even asked that wife to come and be with him in his final moments. but i think she refused because it was always about her.

Boomerproud

(7,943 posts)
21. The voice of my youth playing the soundtrack of my youth.
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 01:29 PM
Jun 2014

R.I.P Mr. Kasem. I wish you would have had a more peaceful passing. You deserved it.

calimary

(81,126 posts)
22. End of an era, for sure. His suffering is over. Unfortunately the family he left behind will
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 01:30 PM
Jun 2014

probably continue in dispute. I'm glad his daughter Kerri was there. His wife and human topiary Jean Kasem seems to have been the cause of some awful divisiveness and discord within his the last years. There were times when his kids from his first marriage wanted was to see him. They didn't want any money, they didn't want any favors. They just wanted to see him. And Jean Kasem did her level best to stand in their way.

Capt.Rocky300

(1,005 posts)
33. When I see Jean on the tv news..............
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 05:50 PM
Jun 2014

all I can think of is "Loretta" from Cheers. Guess that was the peak of her career.

justsomeguy01

(3 posts)
23. let's not forget ...
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 01:56 PM
Jun 2014

Fond memories of AT40 in my youth. That said, I loved his work on "The letter U and the numeral 2" by Negativland.

Hawaii Hiker

(3,165 posts)
26. He did an episode on the original Hawaii Five O
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 03:12 PM
Jun 2014

from around the 1975 season i think it was...

Rest in peace Mr Kasem.

undeterred

(34,658 posts)
28. As they say in the business
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 03:26 PM
Jun 2014

he had a great set of tubes.



I still enjoy listening to his show on Saturday mornings with the trivia thrown in.

BumRushDaShow

(128,520 posts)
36. R.I.P.
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 06:55 PM
Jun 2014

Another part of my childhood has passed on... So sad about the drama that lead up to this but hopefully he is at rest now.

 

Adenoid_Hynkel

(14,093 posts)
42. He was a big time progressive
Mon Jun 16, 2014, 02:39 AM
Jun 2014

Backed Nader, Kucinich, McGovern, Jesse Jackson; did ads for Dems often; opposed the Iraq war; opposed the Gulf War; opposed Reagan, marched for peace in Vietnam

There's a reason the rightwing is cheering today:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/66161/no-tears-for-anti-american-anti-israel-creep-casey-kasem-his-similarly-inclined-kids/

Well done, Casey!
You pissed off all the right people.

ellenrr

(3,864 posts)
43. More than a DJ, a supporter of Progressive causes such as justice for Palestine
Mon Jun 16, 2014, 05:16 AM
Jun 2014

Casey Kasem (1932-2014) was a disc jockey, voice actor, and stalwart of many progressive causes. Born to a family of Lebanese immigrants in Detroit's vibrant Arab-American community, Kasem participated in actions against U.S. military involvement in the Middle East over many decades, as shown in the photo below (1991). Kasem also supported peace and justice for the Palestinian people, workers rights, and progressive electoral efforts such as the 2000 Green Party campaign.

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