Old-time broadcasters like myself were taught to avoid so-called “dead air” at all costs. For laymen, dead air is when a long pause occurs with no sound. In fact, radio executives used to fear that listeners would tune to another station if the host wasn’t continuously jabbering or playing music. That’s why it was odd that Brad Krantz was so successful for so long because his delivery was replete with natural pauses, and his fans (of whom I was one) never turned the dial. Brad was a brilliant guy whose take on current events was always insightful, and his humor was always organic to the conversation at hand.
Brad worked in a number of markets but is best known for his long stint in Greensboro, first as the star attraction at Rock92. Later he teamed with Britt Whitmire on what would become a two-decade journey that went through several iterations at several radio stations before morphing into a popular podcast. But no matter where they landed on the dial or your device, Brad and Britt always put on a good show. The boys were my favorite radio team because they could have a serious discussion one minute and offer up humorous ad lib observations the next. They were unique.
Commenting on his senior partner, Britt told me,
When I first met Brad, I was 19 years old and working part-time at Rock92 where he was the morning host. I was very intimidated because Brad had already achieved a lot in the industry that I wanted to be a part of. Over the years he became the most loyal friend I have ever known. He championed me in a way no one else did, commiserated with me, and scolded me when I needed it. I was fortunate to be his co-host longer than anyone else, and I’ll treasure our experiences together for the rest of my life.
Britt’s last podcast with his mentor posted in February of this year as Brad was battling myelofibrosis, a rare type of bone marrow cancer. After two unsuccessful transplants, our friend finally succumbed to the disease and passed away on May 6. He is survived by his wife Jane and their two children. Brad Krantz was 69 years old.
I first got to know Brad when I invited him and Britt to appear on the Triad Today Roundtable, usually separately. It gave Brad in particular an opportunity to offer up his opinions on serious topics, but also to display his famous wit and weird sense of humor, as was evident in this exchange from December 2011.
Jim: Here’s an item in the news, a gun club in Arizona is allowing children to hold a rifle while having their picture taken with Santa Claus. Do you see anything wrong with that?
Brad: Well clearly that’s wrong because I believe Santa usually carries a knife [laughs].
I learned of Brad’s illness in February of last year, so I called to let him know I was thinking of him, but also to learn more about his ordeal which I planned to write about in one of my weekly columns. What follows are excerpts from our conversation.
Jim: Let’s talk about what you’ll have to go through before and after you identify a blood marrow donor.
Brad: This is a process that started a couple of months ago. First of all, I’m 68, so there are a few extra hurdles that you have to go through at my age before they decide if they even want to go through with it. I mean, if you’ve been smoking your entire life or you’re in bad health, then why would they do this? Fortunately, I’ve passed all of the tests.
Jim: How does the donor system work?
Brad: There’s an international registry called Be The Match and that’s where people have donated their blood, have had it analyzed, and are supposedly willing to step forward if they match up with somebody who needs this procedure done.
This could be years later and then they decide to donate their blood which could be flown here from anywhere in the world. The blood type doesn’t matter. In fact, my blood type will change to whatever type the donor is. I just hope the donor at least has hair [laughs]. Anyway, I’m a couple of months into this now and they have contacted some of the perfect matches to see whether they are still available or if they still want to do it. It’s kind of an opaque process because I’ll never know who it is, and they will never be identified. They could be anywhere in the world.
Once the donor has agreed and they are healthy then about a month later I would be admitted to the hospital, and I would get five days of chemotherapy which would kill off the rest of my immune system and get rid of any cancer that might be involved. We’d then start over with stem cells and a transplant from a donor and that then needs to take hold inside of me. That’s where my isolation begins because at that point, I have no immune system and I’m vulnerable to anything. So, they will keep me in an air-tight area of the hospital where visitation will be limited to a few people, and that goes on for at least a month.
Then, if it all works out it might be eight months to a year after transplant before I’d be back to what you would consider normal. It’s brutal though because you have to take a lot of drugs to keep you from rejecting the new immune system. It could reject you or you could reject it.
Jim: How were you diagnosed?
Brad: This all started back in October [2023] when I got my regular blood test and my numbers had crashed. Red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin had all crashed to horrible levels. Two days later I’m over at Wesley Long Cancer Center getting checked out.
Jim: Had you experienced any symptoms?
Brad: Well that’s what’s lucky for me. Normally you get very tired, but I didn’t feel any different than I had. In fact, two weeks before that my wife and I were over in Europe and all we did was walk everywhere and I was fine.
Jim: How are you doing right now?
Brad: I got a couple of blood transfusions a couple of months ago and I’ve been on a drug called Jakafi, it’s one of those $ 20,000-a-month drugs and it has gotten my numbers back to a much better level. I haven’t had to have any transfusions for over a month, and hopefully, I’m only a few months away from the real deal.
Jim: How many matches do you have so far?
Brad: They told me there were over 700 matches, but if you are cross-racial it’s much tougher to get a donor because you want to have a genetic match. For me, that would be someone of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
Jim: Well, I just wanted to check on you and get some information that I can include in my column about your condition which could also serve to educate folks about the disease.
Brad: You know me, I’m not Mr. Joyful, but I’m really optimistic about what’s going on and the way this is going. I’ve got a good support system, and I’ve got friends. Most importantly I’ve got my wife and kids who will come in to help out and keep me in line when I come home and go through what is not going to be the most pleasant 2024, but considering the alternative, I’m all for it.
Jim: What are you doing between now and then?
Brad: I need to keep active all the time up to when I get admitted to the hospital. I can’t just be sitting on my ass because it’s a physical ordeal that I’m about to go through.
Jim: You’re going to do fine, pal.
Brad: I really appreciate the call, but hey, I’d rather you not write anything just now. Let’s give it a little time. I’ll give you a heads up before I go into the hospital, and then if I die you can write my obit [laughs].
And so, by writing this column I am honoring Brad’s prophetic request, but I wish I wasn’t. I wish he was still around to make me laugh, to discuss politics with, and to remind me that, above all, Santa carries a knife. Rest in peace, my friend./p>
For information on the National Marrow Donor Program, visit BeTheMatch.org.
Remembering Brad Krantz
Old-time broadcasters like myself were taught to avoid so-called “dead air” at all costs. For laymen, dead air is when a long pause occurs with no sound. In fact, radio executives used to fear that listeners would tune to another station if the host wasn’t continuously jabbering or playing music. That’s why it was odd that Brad Krantz was so successful for so long because his delivery was replete with natural pauses, and his fans (of whom I was one) never turned the dial. Brad was a brilliant guy whose take on current events was always insightful, and his humor was always organic to the conversation at hand.
Brad worked in a number of markets but is best known for his long stint in Greensboro, first as the star attraction at Rock92. Later he teamed with Britt Whitmire on what would become a two-decade journey that went through several iterations at several radio stations before morphing into a popular podcast. But no matter where they landed on the dial or your device, Brad and Britt always put on a good show. The boys were my favorite radio team because they could have a serious discussion one minute and offer up humorous ad lib observations the next. They were unique.
Commenting on his senior partner, Britt told me,
Britt’s last podcast with his mentor posted in February of this year as Brad was battling myelofibrosis, a rare type of bone marrow cancer. After two unsuccessful transplants, our friend finally succumbed to the disease and passed away on May 6. He is survived by his wife Jane and their two children. Brad Krantz was 69 years old.
I first got to know Brad when I invited him and Britt to appear on the Triad Today Roundtable, usually separately. It gave Brad in particular an opportunity to offer up his opinions on serious topics, but also to display his famous wit and weird sense of humor, as was evident in this exchange from December 2011.
I learned of Brad’s illness in February of last year, so I called to let him know I was thinking of him, but also to learn more about his ordeal which I planned to write about in one of my weekly columns. What follows are excerpts from our conversation.
And so, by writing this column I am honoring Brad’s prophetic request, but I wish I wasn’t. I wish he was still around to make me laugh, to discuss politics with, and to remind me that, above all, Santa carries a knife. Rest in peace, my friend./p>
For information on the National Marrow Donor Program, visit BeTheMatch.org.