Ray Magliozzi lost a brother, radio lost a voice, and the car hobby lost a friend in Tom Magliozzi.
The two brothers bantered their way into becoming famous as “Click & Clack- the Tappet Brothers on the NPR show Car Talk. They gave sound advice, cracked jokes and performed the instinctive back-and-forth that only comes with siblings. Tom Magliozzi’s booming laugh was his trademark and brought warmth to the airwaves.
The Magliozzi brothers were part of a close-knit Italian family although Tom was 12 years older, the beloved older brother to Ray. Both brothers graduated from MIT and after college, Tom became an engineer. After a near-fatal accident, Tom decided to do something different with his life. The different path led him to his lovely wife and to launch the concept of do-it-yourself mechanics with his brother called Hackers Haven in the early ‘70’s. The two brothers also opened a brick-and-mortar garage called the Good News Garage.
When the local public radio station, WBUR, was putting together a panel of car mechanics for a talk show, they called Ray. Ray sent Tom, and he was the only one who showed up. The station liked what Tom did and asked him to come back the next week. This time he brought Ray and by 1987, they were a nationally- known NPR talk show.
Tom Magliozzi died on Monday of complications associated with Alzheimer’s disease. History will be kind to Tom. Just as kind as his voice was on the radio. He will be greatly missed.
What was your best memory of Tom Magliozzi?
