In Memoriam ⋅ Stan Freberg

August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015

Author, pundant, Voice actor, recording artist and comedic genius, friend and mentor. In the 1930s, Carl Sandburg finished a four volume masterpiece, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years. After commenting on the magnitude of Lincoln’s passing, he settled on a quaint line from an old woodsman’s proverb, “A tree is best measured when it’s down”. Only when a life is “Down” can we adequately measure its length of significance, its breadth of impact, it’s depth of character. So it is with Stan. He was a Lincoln/Twain like figure to me. More was “caught” than “taught” throughout the years I spent around him.

More than any other person he taught me that to reach real people you must always speak the truth and hilariously so if possible. The following live call-in show “Introspective” was recorded June 20, 1986. I picked Stan up after his friend, Ray Bradbury’s daughter’s wedding. The stories from that event could fill an hour. We drove at a treacherous pace over Coldwater Canyon to get to the studio on time. Stan was grateful to have caught up on his prayer life before he did a “Christian show.” If you don’t know who he is, consult the media and YouTube. Those of you who do realize the magnitude of his loss.

“He had ever a smile in his eye and laughter in his heart; his coming into any company was like the lifting of blinds and the opening of windows. He lighted fires in all the cold rooms of life.”

Introspective – July 20, 1986
Stan Freberg and Donna Fisher: Christianity and the Media

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