This is a hard post to write. Not only do I have to write about a friend who died, it comes on Veterans Day, a day that is very important to him. Mark Gaudet, a.k.a. “Mountain Man,” died today in a motorcycle accident in Rhode Island. The reason why I’m posting this is because I worked with Mountain at WHJJ/94HJY/WSNE/B-101 in East Providence and Providence, RI.
He was a board operator and a remote engineer. No one called him by his proper name, Mark, it was always Mountain. No one really knew the origin of his nickname. We would just call him “Mountain” and he would respond to it. If he liked you, there was no one better to have your back. If he didn’t like you, well watch out. Mountain was not the person you would want to have on your bad side. And the few who counted Mountain as an enemy would have very difficult times until they left the station.
Mountain served not just once in Vietnam, but twice.
He would later work at various radio stations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, eventually settling at WHJJ/WHJY. Mountain told me he liked working at night because he could “avoid the suits” and because it was quiet.
As he was working the night shift and inserting commercials into network programming like Sally Jesse Raphael or Bruce Williams, Mountain had no issue in playing sound effects. If you ever listened to those programs on WHJJ and heard a “boing” or a car crash, that was Mountain having fun.
He would also insert his sound effects into Boston Bruins and Celtics games, Pawtucket Red Sox broadcasts or even the news.
Another classic characteristic was Mountain’s appetite. The man could eat and would not have a problem downing an entire large pizza, a sub, a desert and then some coke to wash it all down (that is not an exaggeration, it might even be conservative).
Every so often, some of the radio station staff would go to Wright’s Farm in Chepachet, RI to partake in the all you can eat chicken dinner and Mountain would eat to his heart’s delight. On our first “Wright’s Night,” we ate until closing. The staff kicked us out not because it was closing time, but because they ran out of chicken. Wright’s hardly ever runs out of chicken, but that night it did. Whenever we arrived at Wright’s, the staff would know to keep the chicken coming until Mountain said “stop.” That word was never uttered.
If one didn’t meet Mountain in person, you would think I am making him up. No, he was all too real. He would have fit in perfectly on WKRP in Cincinnati or News Radio. In fact, some of their characters might have even been based on him.
Mountain also loved riding motorcycles, naming his bikes “Purple Passion” or “Ruby Red” and giving the female staffers rides throughout the city. And today, he died riding one of his beloved bikes.
I last saw Mountain back in February as we were remembering another staffer who had died ten years ago. Mountain was passionate about the people he loved and this person was truly one of his best friends at the station.
And now Mountain is gone. It’s hard to believe that I won’t hear him say, “Greeeeeeetings…..” or “That’s something you people do…” meaning Asians. He could rip you, but if he liked you, you knew it was in jest.
I’ll go to his wake and funeral and probably say something to his casket that only he and I would understand. And I will wonder when he will wake up to laugh in that way that he only could.
Mountain was truly a one-of-a-kind character. His personality fit radio and radio fit him.
Over the next few months, the ex-staffers from the Clear Channel Providence cluster will get together at Wright’s Farm to remember him and have a few pieces of chicken to honor his memory. We’ll do our best Mountain Man impressions and share our favorite Mountain stories. But nothing will ever replace having him with us in person.
