There is a well known franchise here on MediaVillage from Jack Myers dubbed "Legends and Leaders." While Gary Krantz was not profiled there, I knew him to be a legend in the radio - and audio - industry. And, I'm sad to share that that legend has passed. But, his career, and enthusiasm and drive lives on in the careers of many others, and via friendships throughout our industry.
I met Gary in just about my first week on the job at AdLarge, where I ran Ad Sales Marketing. Gary brought to the rep firm an opportunity to sell sponsorships in content he was distributing, "The Classic Rock Roll of Honors." Well, being a classic rock lover with a decent "Rolodex" I actually managed to sell that sponsorship, even as "just" a marketer -- to Gibson Guitars, a first time advertiser. And Gary thought THAT was legendary. It enabled me to go to London and Los Angeles for the annual award show, and meet and greet rock royalty from Ozzy Osbourne to Jimmy Page, with pictures that still pull in 'likes' on my Instagram (and, okay, on dating sites). From then on, I considered Gary one of those industry friends.
He was the first person I asked to guest on podcast I'd first developed at MediaVillage, and that episode from almost exactly five years ago is still a favorite. It also secured his "legend" status in my mind. Here's a link tothe article and episode,which was published here in 2020. What you'll learn if you read or listen, is how Gary had taken entertainment companies and brands from conventional broadcast to digital business models and helped fuel the radio careers of such notables as Carson Daly, Ryan Seacrest and Rachel Maddow. His family shared this obituary.
Gary leveraged his trademark drive to go from an unpaid “gopher” to ultimately help run MJI Broadcasting (later acquired by iHeartMedia, where he became Executive Vice President of their Premiere division (working there at one point working with the man who became my boss at Westwood One), then on to President of Air America to Chief Digital Media Officer at Westwood One - before my time there, but at the same time as another Gary -- Schonfeld -- and Cathy Csukas, who then went on to hire me at AdLarge (see above).
Gary's instincts then led him to syndicate some of the biggest names and events on air and ultimately adding to the utopian landscape of podcasting "back in the day." And, that brings us to him being on MY podcast (for which I've since gotten editing advice from the likes of Roger Colletti who was the engineer in London with us way back when. Oh, and then me freelancing for Gary to help get sponsorships for the podcast and videos of another legend who he was repping, Peter Greenberg.
And in between we'd rendezvous at conferences, have dinner with everyone from Cathy to Peter Ferioli... then even occasionally on Fire Island with mutual friends, like his dear friend Max Felder (who happened to once work with one of my former co-workers at Brand Innovators!)
You don't really need to follow all these connections; they are limitless. I think you can understand, though, how one pebble in the pond of our industry doesn't go unheard or unfelt. Its ripples echo. And become the stuff of legends.
Thanks for your impact and your friendship, Gary. You'll be missed.
Posted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership self-publishing platform.
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