Jean Parker Shepherd, Jr. (July 26, 1921 ¨C October 16, 1999) was an American storyteller, radio and TV personality, writer and actor. He was often referred to by the nickname Shep. With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is known to modern audiences for the film "A Christmas Story" (1983), which he narrated and co-scripted, based on his own semi-autobiographical stories.
Born in 1921 on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, Shepherd briefly lived in East Chicago, Indiana, and was raised in Hammond, Indiana, where he graduated from Hammond High School in 1939.[2] The movie, "A Christmas Story" is loosely based on his days growing up in Hammond's southeast side neighborhood of Hessville. As a youth, he worked briefly as a mail carrier in a steel mill and earned his Amateur radio license (W9QWN) at age 16, sometimes claiming he was even younger. He sporadically attended Indiana University, but never graduated. Shepherd was a lifelong Chicago White Sox fan.
During World War II, he served stateside in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Shepherd then had an extensive career in a variety of media.
Shepherd maintained his interest in amateur radio throughout his life. After leaving Hammond, he obtained the call signs W4QWN (Kentucky), W8QWN (Ohio), and W3STE (Pennsylvania). Upon his arrival at WOR in New York in 1955, he obtained the call K2ORS, with which he was often heard speaking to other ham radio operators for the remainder of his life.
Read his full biography at Wikipedia:
I hope you enjoy the article about one of our own.
Merry Christmas,
Joe, N2QOJ
Joe Sammartino