Captain Herb Emory left us one year ago yesterday. It’s still hard to imagine that he’s gone. Every day I expect him to come bursting into the Traffic Center with one of the most larger than life personalities God ever created. I miss him tremendously.
I know you do too. I know you would love to hear his signature catchphrases still coming through your radio and television sets.
“Good morning and good driving!”
“Oh my aching toe!”
“Auto-flambé.”
“Hold your nose, traffic stinks!”
“”I’ve got the Bluebird of happiness on my shoulder”
“Kim McCarthy Skyplaaane!”
“Spaghetti Junction!” (With French accent for some reason)
“Someone put the voodoo dust down on I-285”
“Officer Don’s bag of ooey gooey!”
“A song in my heart and a tap in my toes.”
“The SkyCopter Lounge.”
“Perimeter Patrol.”
I miss those too.
I miss being able to call him on the phone and ask him advice for this column.
I miss knowing that no matter what happened on the roads, Herb would know what to do, how to handle it and how to report it on the air.
I miss all the times we’d go out to breakfast, lunch or dinner. No matter how hard I tried, he would never let me pick up the tab.
I miss all the times he’d buy huge bags of biscuits and deliver them to the morning crew as a breakfast surprise.
I miss his hearty and heartfelt laugh.
I miss his booming voice. Recognized by everyone.
I miss flying in the chopper with him, listening to him sing in between traffic reports.
I miss driving around with him in his work vehicle fully equipped with scanners, radios and about a million antennas. More than one valet asked him if he was a storm chaser.
I miss him as Santa Claus on the radio on Christmas Eve.
I miss how he made everyone he met feel special.
I miss his generous heart. The biggest I’ve ever seen.
I miss his quick wit. He was the only person I ever met that could go toe-to-toe with Neal Boortz.
I miss his unsurpassed work ethic. He set the bar so high; you always tried your hardest to keep up with him.
Herb’s voice was the first I heard every morning. He’d call me in the traffic center and say “Hey! What’s shakin’ big boy?” wanting to know what the traffic situation was as we prepared for morning drive.
I miss that most of all.
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