By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
For 47 years before going to bed Sunday through Thursday, Robert J. Wright set an alarm for 4:30 am.
For almost two years now, Wright hasn’t come close to setting an alarm.
“Unless I have to do something like go play golf,” Wright quipped to the Shreveport-Bossier Journal.
One of the most popular personalities in Shreveport-Bossier City radio history, Wright retired in late April of 2022. After 26 years and three stations in this market — and a 50 year career — retirement is even better than Wright thought it would be.
“My life now is that I can go anywhere and do anything I want to do, which is pretty awesome. That thought, pre-retirement, made me pretty giddy. There’s no other word to describe it — giddy. It made me jump up and down. I underestimated how it was going to make me feel.”
Wright spends his days doing whatever he wants, which often includes lunch and dinner with friends.
“By the time I get up in the morning, 9, 9:30, 10 o’clock, by the time I have coffee, by the time I work out in the morning or go on a run, my schedule is back on. I sleep through what would have been my job, as silly as that might sound. By the time I get up and get going, my day is back on the same schedule as when I was working. It’s just that I’m not working.”
But surely there are times when Wright misses what he did all his professional life, right?
“It is puzzling to me that something I loved so much and worked at with every ounce of my being for half a century, that not for a blink of an eye have I missed doing it.”
Which has surprised at least two people.
“My friends had bet about not if I would go back to work, but when I would go back to work. It was an over/under bet with one of my brothers and a very good friend of mine. One of them had less than six months, and one of them had more than six months. I said, ‘You both really thought I was going to go back?’ My brother said, ‘Yeah, I thought you would miss being Robert J. Wright.’ All I could think of was, ‘Well, you thought me being Robert J. Wright was a lot bigger deal than I did.'”
But there are some parts of the job Wright still thinks about.
“I miss a good radio show. I miss the way things would come together. What I enjoyed most about it is what I miss the least. The germ of an idea, and having to take a sentence or two in my head, and cultivate it and think about it and work it over and mold it into a five, six, or seven minute monologue. I loved doing that, but I don’t miss doing that.”
Once he retired, Wright didn’t waste any time before traveling. He took a cruise the week after his last day on the air. Last summer, Wright drove cross-country. Twice.
“I love car trips. Love car trips. Six or eight or 10 hours a day in a car is nothing for me. I enjoy that. There were two big (trips). The first one was about 15 days and went from here to Nashville, to Cincinnati, to Cleveland, to Grand Rapids, to Traverse City, then home. That was visiting family and friends.”
Wright’s second trip was to the famed vacation spot Davenport, Iowa.
“What the hell was in Davenport, Iowa? I’m a runner, and there is a seven-mile road race at the end of July. It has about 20,000 people. I’ve always wanted to go. Pre-retirement, I never had the time or the initiative. Now, all I needed was the initiative. I trained for that. I spent five days in Davenport and it was awesome.”
Wright hasn’t given up his night job. He’s still the Shreveport Mudbugs’ public address announcer.
“That is so much fun. I will do that until they don’t want me anymore.”
Wright is 72 years old and in good health. “In fact, I would go so far as to say other than my lack of hair, (my health) is excellent.” But this summer, long car rides may take a back seat to adulting.
“I think this summer is going to be the summer of home repair. It’s a 45 year-old house, and there are things it needs, like windows and whatever else.”
Memo to the window replacement folks — don’t show up before 10 am.
Contact Tony at SBJTonyT@gmail.com.