Dan Conry, R.I.P.

During the lengthy interim in which your faithful Peasant
could not be with you, my fiercely loyal readers, a radio
luminary Milwaukee whose show I enjoyed for several
years, with his wonderful wit, sometimes wacky humor,
and endless good cheer (even when there was little to feel
cheerful about), Dan Conry, passed away after several years
of increasingly poor health. Dan was one of the stable of
fantastic conservative radio talk show hosts on Milwaukee's
home of conservative political discussions and dissertations,
WISN-AM, and periodically guest-hosted for one of his
colleagues, giving his personal, very colorful take on the
political news of the day, commenting on the national
as well as state and local news.

Dan interspersed his stories of his childhood, growing up
with a no-nonsense retired Marine father and a stern but
loving mother, with stories from his days as a police
detective in New York City (Dan was from Brooklyn).
He would talk about the mischief that he and his brother
would get into and how their dad would raise the roof
in chewing them out Marine Corps style! My favorite story
was of how the boys lit an M-80 (that's a Cherry Bomb)
while in their bedroom, and Dan tried to toss it out the
window but FORGOT TO OPEN THE SCREEN after
opening the window! The M-80 bounced off the screen,
landed on the floor, and went off with a deafening blast,
causing their dad to rush into the room to see the debris
and then make an explosion of his own in excoriating the
mischief makers.

Conry spoke about his undercover work on the NYPD going
after drug rings, his being shot at, stabbed, beaten up,
and about the courage of his compatriots, being especially
effusive in his praise for gay officers whom he worked with.
Dan constantly stressed that he never judged anyone by their
skin color, their ethnicity, or their sexual orientation; he always
looked for the good in everyone he met. He had gay callers
with whom he had friendly and respectful conversations,
finding areas of agreement regarding some topics Dan was
discussing. Some of them even told Conry that they were
conservative gay people, a few of them "coming out"
as such. Some even admitted that they found it harder to
come out as conservatives than coming out gay. Dan made
them, as he did all his callers, at ease with his humor and
good-natured way. He also did very funny impressions of
political figures as well as various celebrities.

Dan would spread his cheer to his audience in sad times
(as when Barack Obama was re-elected president in 2012)
and in happy times (when Donald Trump was elected
four years later). He also talked about the local sports teams
and his impressions on the quality of their play during
their respective seasons. Although from Brooklyn, he was
a big supporter of the Green Bay Packers, the Milwaukee
Brewers, and the Milwaukee Bucks as well as the teams of
the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University. He
celebrated with his audience when the teams won and
shared their pain when they lost.

Dan would never speak of others in a demeaning way but he
also called a spade a spade; he would be critical of politicians,
be they Democrats or Republicans, liberal or conservative
if he felt they were not taking the best tack on an issue,
especially concerning a piece of legislation before them,
looking to serve themselves rather than the people.
He also was the same way with police, activists, pundits,
and others on all matters.

Sadly, your sorrowful Peasant never did get the opportunity
to meet Dan in person but we did talk a little online. He
also read a few posts from PWAP and told me he enjoyed
them. I told him that I enjoyed his radio show immensely,
and that I set Sunday afternoons aside to tune in.

I sure wish there was a way for Dan to broadcast his show
from heaven. Requiescat en pace, my fellow Irish-catholic
(Dan was of Irish and Scottish heritage), fellow conservative,
and fellow seeker, partaker and provider of good craic 
(Gaelic for "good times"). You're the best!


MEM