Freddy Anderson, 77**

KABC Radio is reporting that one of its longtime guest callers, Freddy Anderson, has passed away at the age of 77, of an apparent heart attack. It is estimated that Anderson had been calling various hosts of the station for over 30 years.

Regular listeners to KABC knew Freddy well. His calls were characterized by his high voice, rapid fire delivery, quick to flare temper and often unusual pronounciations (for example, the letter R was "are-uh"). Despite his venom for his two favorite targets - the LAPD and the Republican Party - he was always extremely courteous to the call screeners, producers and hosts he would speak with.

The most excitable Freddy - an African American - would get was during his conversations with hosts Larry Elder and Leo Terrell. Despite the fact that Elder and Terrell - also African Americans - are on two opposite ends of the political spectrum, Freddy often accused both of them of being right wing, racist idelogues. Both Elder and Terrell would play special theme songs as they took Freddy's calls and often featured him at about the same time in each show. Anderson often appeared as well on the weekly segment in which Elder interviews his mother about issues of the day. Numerous hosts - particularly Terrell - would often feature outtakes of Anderson's previous calls and play them over and over again. Freddy was just that funny, even though he probably never intended to be.

Anderson was reported to have once had a music career and most recently worked as a security guard. He will be missed.

*Update: Click here (MP3 - Quicktime - Windows Media) to here one of Freddy's last calls with Mr. KABC. This is the classic where Freddy recites his ABCs and discusses his views on daylight savings time, Johnnie Cochran, The Pope, Jesus, pedophile priests, Cardinal Mahoney, God, evolution, Christians, farming, college, slavery, Jim Crow laws and lynching all in about 10 minutes. Classic Freddy.

**Further Update: Mr. KABC tells us he'll have his own tribute to Freddy this evening on his show, tonight at 9:00 p.m. on 790 AM. We recommend you tune in.

***Another Update: Mr. KABC read this article on his show just a few minutes ago. Thanks for the plug, Mr. K!