Daily Journal 12/16/25 (and Bababooey to you all…)
It is 6:36am as I write this. Howard Stern goes live in less than half an hour, and today he’ll announce his decision on whether or not he’s retiring. A few folks have asked if I have any inside info (I guess because they know I’m friends with Richard).
I do not.
I’ve been listening to Howard since 1982, when he was at DC 101, and have been with him ever since, except for that pre-syndicated WNBC stint. But I was in the Navy at thattime, so things worked out perfectly. Soon enough, I was back home and he was syndicated and I’ve listened every morning ever since. I’ve bought the books. Seen the movie. Watched the Pay-Per-View specials, the Channel 9 shows, the E network. I’ve made the phony phone calls (my best was getting onto MSNBC and going live on the air and getting in “Bababooey, Babaooey, Howard Stern’s pe—” before they cut me off). And, of course, I made it onto Howard 100 and 101 with the publication of CASTAWAYS.
From every pre-NO REST short story and unpublished novel all the way up to the ones I’m working on now (FALLING ANGELS: THE LABYRINTH Book 4 and ONE-EYED MONSTER with Laurel) Howard has been the daily morning soundtrack.
Will he announce his retirement today? I don’t know. He has certainly earned it. And with the staff and crew no longer entirely in studio together, and the show whittled down to three episodes a week, it’s no longer at the heights it once was. But there are times it still makes me laugh so hard that I can’t breathe, and as an interviewer, he’s at the height of his powers.
I would miss it, but I would also be okay with it. Particularly if Howard 101 continues to play old archival shows and segments.
I’ll also be curious to see what those shares of SIRI that I purchased the day Howard announced he was signing with them do today.
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After years of spring or fall weather here in Central PA a week before Christmas, proper winters are back again, with bitter cold and ice and snow and school delays or cancellations. It’s like Global Warming took a look around at the state of the world in 2025 and said “Eh, they don’t need me. They’re going to blow it all up themselves way faster than I could” and then fucked off to Tahiti on vacation.
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Worked on FALLING ANGELS yesterday, but mostly the day was spent filling out forms and applications pertaining to my youngest son’s forthcoming college experience. Over the next two months, I’ve got two short stories due (one for the Overlook anthology and another for something Michael Bailey is putting together). And Laurel reminded me yesterday that the deadline for Jim Cobb’s prepper anthology is coming up too. So my goal is to finish this draft of FALLING ANGELS by New Year’s Eve and then switch over to those three stories for a few weeks.