COVID tackles a Superstar: A tribute to Larry Carr
By Mike Reynolds, Guest Columnist
You just never know! Literally every day since around mid-March of this crazy year, most of us wake up, flip on our favorite news source or open our favorite newspaper only to read the headlines and ask, “What else can happen in 2020?” For me personally, that question never hit harder at home than it did on Thursday, Dec. 12, when I got the phone call to let me know that Larry Carr had passed away after having been hospitalized since Nov. 28 with COVID-19.
For more than 40 years, radio listeners in east Mississippi and west Alabama have tuned in to one of five stations where Larry was either an on-air personality, a commercial producer or behind the scenes running operations. Before that, football fans knew Larry’s “Superstar” talent as he was a standout running back at Meridian High School, East Mississippi Community College in Scooba and at Mississippi College in Clinton.
The passion for greatness on the gridiron extended to his broadcasting career at WQIC in Meridian, WSLY in York and most recently at WZNJ, WXAL and WINL in Demopolis. For those of us who worked with Larry in Demopolis for the last seven years of his 16-year Demopolis stint, we simply took Larry for granted. He was always there. Collectively, we tried to remember when he may have been absent. Other than his special yearly vacation trip with his bride Rhonda, we could only remember one or two days when he may have had a minor illness that kept him from making the daily 80 mile round trip from his home in Meridian. And thanks to modern day internet technology, even when he wasn’t physically in the studio, he was remotely plugged in to the operation.
He died 14 days shy of his 65th birthday, and for all of us, Larry appeared to be in his late 40s or maybe early 50s. He was fit, active, and we always joked around that he could still “strap it on” if somebody showed up for a little back yard football game. He was more than a model employee. In the seven years that I worked with him, there was not one single time when there was a hint of any disciplinary action. He always came in early and stayed late. Whether on the air or punching the buttons, he never made a mistake. Or if he did, he fixed it before anybody else ever knew. And at night and on the weekends, he was constantly checking his computer at home to make sure everything was running as it should.
Since 2013, the Demopolis station group has gone through many technical and procedural changes. Not one time was there ever any push back from Larry. He not only implemented the changes as directed but he did it in stride with a smile on his face. And speaking of a smile, Larry always had one to go along with that unmistakable chuckle that I am so sad to say will never be heard again.
Up until now, my opinion of those who have died from COVID-19 already had a compromised medical condition. And when we found out that Larry had been diagnosed, we were confident that he would bounce back since he appeared to be in great shape. He did have borderline diabetes and only a slight case of hypertension but for the most part he was generally healthy. If he could, Larry would sound the alarm for all of us, especially the healthy, about the seriousness of this disease.
Larry leaves behind the love of his life, wife Rhonda, whom he was married to for 36 years, along with a son Keriko Carr and daughters Erica Carr Sloan and Kendra Carr Winnick and other close family members and friends. He also leaves behind a serious void in the business of broadcasting, one that can never be filled. He was the full package as evidenced by his talent, dedication, loyalty and a personality that made those around him look forward to coming to work every day.
(Reynolds is the General Manager of Westburg Broadcasting Alabama)