HAS ANYONE SEEN Ben Fong -Torres?
It's been well over two months since he last posted his Sunday Pink Radio waves column in the Chronicle --since that time, not a word, not a peep. His own personal website makes no mention of his whereabouts.
You would think the Chronicle itself would inform its readers about BFT's status but then again, that would be too logical and remember, it's the Chronicle.
If this mystery is health-related, OK, I understand HIPAA law, that said it would be nice to know Ben is OK; I reached out to his people and await a response.
Once I know, of course I will inform you all.
Ben Fong Torres is MIA because he is excruiatingly boring!
ReplyDeleteThe worst writer on planet earth.
I saw him with Rob Malcolm.
ReplyDeleteHe's prepping for his Emmy winning Chinese New Year duties.
ReplyDeleteAnd Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa
ReplyDeleteMost likely, he read his own material and......Retired!!!
ReplyDeleteAgree with your concern for his well being. The Radio Waves column did not appear in the Datebook I emailed the Chron twice and have not received an answer which is bullshit for an alleged "Voice of the West"
ReplyDeleteThey also eliminated radio station/programming
He seemed to be alive and well on Wednesday June 19, 2019 when he was an emcee, along with others alive and in-person, at the Surrealistic Summer Solstice music event in front of the Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
ReplyDeleteOh my!
ReplyDeleteYou're mixing him up with Captain Sulu.
DeleteOther than his family and a few writers, I don't think many people are that caught up in Ben's whereabouts. I wish him well, but so much has changed since paper news papers were The King. It would take a prolonged Internet grid failure ( 2 years or more) to reverse that trend for paper papers. Such widespread disasters don't seem to happen much in America. For many reasons, I wish we could go back to the way it was in 1995 and before.
ReplyDeleteThere's now a surplus of the pronoun "I" at the store.
ReplyDeleteAside from a potential health issue, he's not missed. His columns add nothing. They're nothing more than a self-serving waste of ink.
This may be a case of addition by subtraction.
Hope he’s okay. I listened to him on KSAN in the early-mid 1970’s, and read his pieces in Rolling Stone magazine when it was actually newspaper....also in the 1970’s. Liked his work.
ReplyDeleteI think I have a signed card from him when he was a DJ on KSAN in the 70's. Do you think it's worth anything? NOT!
ReplyDeleteThat Chronicle Sunday pink section seems to be getting thinner every week. I'm sure there's likely some ratio of ads to content they might be striving for. As a non-weekly feature it would be easy to drop his column and few might notice. The majority of those that might probably read this blog.
ReplyDeleteI asked the Chronicle and received this reply:
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading The Chronicle and sharing your feedback. Radio Waves ended its long run in order to allow us to bring readers some new columns, including some new offerings from the Datebook critics, and a new streaming column. Those will be debuting within the next 6 weeks or so.
"Streaming"? Just goes to show what they feel about the state of commercial radio these days. And more Datebook critics? They'll probably be reviewing programming on the Food Network or Cooking Channel. Based on positioning of stories on the mobile app, food is more important to Audrey Cooper anyway -- next to being a mouthpiece for the Giants. Appreciate that responsible journalism, lady.
DeleteOh. well, they never really gave him a farewell when the first version of the column ended, either. The version that was worth reading.
ReplyDeleteBFT was moderator at the Broadcast Legends luncheon honoring KFOG. His final column was printed in the Broadcast Legends newsletter, but the Comicle refused to print it.
ReplyDeleteThe Chron is starting to look and read like the East Bay Times.
ReplyDeleteYou mean the East Bay Express, right?
DeleteHe was till posting on Facebook as of July 1st:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/moonaliceradio/