Honoring My Friend Glenn Pitcher Who Is Celebrating 25 Years at 98.1 the Hawk

This fall marks my 9th year co-hosting the Hawk Morning Show with my friend of 20 years, Glenn Pitcher who just so happens to be celebrating his 25th anniversary of working at 98.1 The Hawk today!

Get our free mobile app

Life is funny sometimes, isn't it? 20 years ago, I was doing a morning show on a brand new radio station called Wild 104 but I secretly wished that I was working down the hall at my sister station, 98.1 The Hawk because they always got to do the coolest things.

2001 is when I first met Glenn Pitcher and we quickly became friends. We'd send each other dumb chain emails (remember when those were the thing?) and when cell phones grew in popularity, we'd text each other jokes and such, And then when Glenn (finally) joined social media, we followed each other's lives there.

I only worked in the same building with Glenn for two years before moving away, but our friendship held strong through the years and across the miles.

In 2010, my dad got really sick and I wanted to find my way closer to home so I started sending out resumes but there were no bites and I was discouraged and about to give up. And then, Glenn called.

Glenn asked if I'd be interested in working for 98.1 The Hawk and my immediate response was, "Where are you going?" He laughed and said he wasn't going anywhere but that he was looking for a new partner, someone he was already friends with and someone who would stick around longer than the others had.

I wanted to get closer to home and find a place to plant roots because I was tired of moving every few years. The thought of getting to work at 98.1 The Hawk was exciting but what sealed the deal was the fact that I'd get to work with someone with whom I had a solid and established friendship.

I joined the 98.1 The Hawk Morning Show in the fall of 2012 and as they say, the rest is history.

While I'm admittedly horrendous at math, I estimate that all of the hours added up that Glenn and I have spent together just in the studio in the last eight years totals no less than 693 full days. That's a lot of time to sit in a small room with someone else.

As you can imagine, the fact that we're in such close proximity means our friendship has only grown stronger and I am fully aware that it could have easily gone the other way but we are invested in not only being the best team we can be for our radio station and the listeners we love, but in being the best friend we can be for each other. Glenn would probably say it's because he can't escape me because we're literally stuck in a room together for hours on end and I never stop talking. The truth is that it takes two people to make a friendship work.

Glenn knows all of me. The good, the bad, and the highly emotional. I know the same about him and we still love and respect each other, even knowing each other's faults. There's something really special about trusting someone enough to lower the walls that those of us who work in high-profile jobs tend to put up. I have that trust in Glenn and he in me.

Sure, Glenn and I have our moments. We relentlessly tease and poke at each other and can drive each other batty but the truth is, we are fiercely loyal to each other. We've only had one "fight" in the nearly decade we've worked together and even then, we both felt so bad about it that we teared up and tripped over each other asking for forgiveness.

You know Glenn as a goofball who isn't ever very serious and maybe even a little clueless. But I know the real Glenn. I'm not going to entirely blow up his spot but I will tell you that I consider myself truly lucky to be privy to the other side of this complex man. The tender, compassionate, and intelligent man who sticks by those he loves and by his strong moral values.

Glenn and I always talk about how our families are more important to us than any other thing in the world and I think it's worth pointing out that he (and I) consider you, our listeners as family. You may think that Glenn Pitcher is just a voice you've listened to on the radio for the last 25 years, but he is so much more than that. He is a man who is invested in our community and who might even be praying over you and you don't know that he is. That's the kind of man that my friend Glenn Pitcher is.