Personal

Todd Mundt is a rockstar

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No, I didn’t leave the house with all that cat hair on my sweater

I’m an avid NPR/Michigan Radio listener. In the past year, I’ve dwindled my radio dial selections to 104.1 and the local independent music station (WYCE) on 88.1. Between the two, I get my news and my folk-rock-blues-jazz-worldbeat vibe without enduring the crap on the rest of the stations. Every morning I’m tuned in to listen to the local, national and world events. And each day I hear the same familiar voices.

Last night Michigan Radio hosted a member appreciation night at the Grand Rapids Art Museum with a preview of a very cool exhibit called Visualizing the Blues. We were in attendance to dine on San Chez tapas and get a glimpse of our friendly radio personalities in the crowd. I saw Amanda Greig, the Aussie, first. Then we walked around a corner with our drinks and came across Tamar Charney and Charity Nebbe. But I couldn’t find Todd. Todd Mundt is my favorite.

A few minutes later I saw him chatting with someone. I wanted very much to go up and shake his hand and say hello. But there was always another person gabbing with him. Then everyone moved into the gallery for remarks and introductions. After that, he was swarmed by people again. And I was getting cold feet. I’m pretty shy in situations like that. I hated the thought of waiting in line to talk to him. But after several moments of hemming and hawwing about what I should do, I realized I was going to have to.

So I waited behind a talkative couple. And waited. And waited. I felt utterly ridiculous. I waited so long that when they finally walked away and I was face to face with him, I just about blanked. I finally managed to gush about how much I missed his daily interview show and how I really appreciate the job they all do at the station. Blah, blah, blah. Yadda, yadda, yadda. He smiled nicely and thanked me. Then I tried to wrap it up without making my nervousness any more evident. But c’mon…what did I have to be nervous about. He’s not a rockstar, is he?

Next I’m going to set my sights a slightly bigger fish…Carl Kasell. God, I’m such a public radio geek.