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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that dances to the beat of history, but

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Speaker 1: you know in a cool way. I'm Gabelusier and today

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Speaker 1: we're looking back at the life and legacy of Jackie Wilson,

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Speaker 1: one of the great vocalists of pop music history, whose

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Speaker 1: career came to a jarring close all too soon. The

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Speaker 1: day was September nineteen seventy five. American R and B

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Speaker 1: singer Jackie Wilson collapsed on stage during a performance and

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Speaker 1: went into a coma. The forty one year old singer

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Speaker 1: was in the middle of a show at the Latin

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Speaker 1: Casino in New Jersey when he felt a sharp pain

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Speaker 1: in his chest. Some sources claim it was a massive

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Speaker 1: heart attack, while others say it was a stroke. In

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Speaker 1: either case, Wilson lost consciousness and fell head first onto

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Speaker 1: the stage. He was quickly taken to a nearby hospital,

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Speaker 1: where medical personnel tried desperately to stabilize his vitals. They

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Speaker 1: succeeded after nearly half an hour, but by that time

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Speaker 1: the lack of oxygen to Wilson's brain had caused him

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Speaker 1: to fall into a coma. He remained in that unresponsive

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Speaker 1: state with one brief exception, until his death eight years later.

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Speaker 1: Jack Leroy Wilson, Jr. Was born on June nine, thirty

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Speaker 1: four in Detroit, Michigan. He went on to become one

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Speaker 1: of the most celebrated R and B singers of the

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifties and sixties, a key figure in the evolution

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Speaker 1: from rhythm and blues into seoul. His more than fifty

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Speaker 1: hit singles covered an impressive assortment of genres, including R

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Speaker 1: and B, pop, soul, do op rock, and even easy listening.

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Speaker 1: Wilson was also renowned for his dynamics showmanship, which earned

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Speaker 1: him the nickname Mr. Excitement. As a tenor with a

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Speaker 1: four octave vocal range, wilson singing was more than enough

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Speaker 1: to keep audiences entertained, but it was his stylish dress

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Speaker 1: and spirited dance moves that packed the house night after night.

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Speaker 1: In his youth, Wilson had two competing passions, singing gospel

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Speaker 1: music at local churches and fighting in amateur boxing tournaments.

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Speaker 1: The latter hobby made his mother, Eliza, very nervous, especially

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Speaker 1: since Wilson had already gotten himself into trouble by joining

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Speaker 1: a gang called the Shakers. Although he had a clear

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Speaker 1: talent for boxing, his mother urged him to go in

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Speaker 1: a less violent direction for the good of his future,

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Speaker 1: and so Jackie Wilson hung up his gloves and went

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Speaker 1: into music. He got his big break in nineteen fifty

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Speaker 1: three when he was brought in as the replacement lead

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Speaker 1: singer for a popular R and B vocal group called

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Speaker 1: Billy Ward and the Dominos. Four years later, Wilson set

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Speaker 1: out on his own and released his first solo single,

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Speaker 1: reet Petite the Finest Girl You Want to Meet? Here's

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Speaker 1: a clip, Well, have you ever seen a girl hold

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Speaker 1: the soul? Your dim fi? Fine? She's so fine. Jackie

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Speaker 1: Wilson made regular appearances on the pop charts for the

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Speaker 1: next several years. Then, in December of night, the singer

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Speaker 1: released what would ultimately become his signature song, Lonely Tear Drops.

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Speaker 1: Unlike his earlier hits, that song didn't fit neatly into

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Speaker 1: just one genre. It was catchy and upbeat like a

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Speaker 1: pop song, but also featured staples of rhythm and blues,

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Speaker 1: like background vocalists and a strong bassline. As a result,

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Speaker 1: the track became an across the board sensation rising to

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Speaker 1: number seven on national pop charts and to number one

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Speaker 1: on R and B charts. Lonely Teardrops was Jackie Wilson's

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Speaker 1: first record to sell a million copies, and its success

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Speaker 1: turned him into one of the world's top R and

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Speaker 1: B singers. Take a listen and you'll understand why my

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Speaker 1: heart is fine fine. I'm not just say will say.

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Speaker 1: Wilson's records continued to chart for the better part of

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Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties, and he built on that success by

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Speaker 1: playing concerts across the country. It was during these performances

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Speaker 1: that Wilson was dubbed Mr. Excitement, thanks to his jubilant

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Speaker 1: dancing and his flirtatious attitude. Beverly Lee, a founding member

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Speaker 1: of the Sherrell's, once spoke about both aspects of Wilson's

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Speaker 1: stage presence. She said, quote, he was like a very slinky,

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Speaker 1: powerful leopard on stage. He would do his little shadow boxing,

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Speaker 1: I call it his little movements, and how he handled

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Speaker 1: the mic. He was just amazing, always up and up,

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Speaker 1: a lot of energy. In nineteen sixty seven, Wilson channeled

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Speaker 1: that boundless energy into another hit single, a bubble eoed

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Speaker 1: to romance called your love keeps lifting me higher and higher.

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Speaker 1: The song became the second biggest hit of Wilson's career,

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Speaker 1: but it was also his last. His face, Yeah That's Jackie.

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Speaker 1: Wilson was an electrifying performer, but his enthusiasm belied a

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Speaker 1: deeply troubled personal life. Off stage, he grappled with alcohol

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Speaker 1: dependency and drug addiction, vices that had hounded him since childhood.

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Speaker 1: He was also a womanizer, whose chronic cheating drove away

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Speaker 1: two wives and even led to him being shot in

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Speaker 1: the stomach by an angry ex girlfriend in nineteen sixty one.

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Speaker 1: Wilson also faced problems that weren't of his own making.

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Speaker 1: He was frequently harassed by police during performances in the

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Speaker 1: segregated South, and in nineteen sixty seven, he was arrested

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Speaker 1: in South Carolina simply for being a loan in a

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Speaker 1: motel room with a white woman. Three years later, Wilson

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Speaker 1: endured one of the greatest pains of his life when

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Speaker 1: his sixteen year old son, Jackie Jr. Was shot and

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Speaker 1: killed by a neighbor during a dispute. Wilson sank into

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Speaker 1: depression following his son's death, burying himself and his career

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Speaker 1: in a fog of drugs and alcohol. That wasn't the end, though.

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Speaker 1: Jackie Wilson re emerged a couple of years later and

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Speaker 1: began to set his life in order. He swore off

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Speaker 1: booze and pills and fired the manager who had badly

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Speaker 1: managed his money and almost bankrupted him. He started performing again,

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Speaker 1: and for the first time in years, Mr. Excitement was

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Speaker 1: back where he belonged, But Wilson's comeback was tragically short lived.

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Speaker 1: On September twenty nine, nineteen seventy five, he appeared as

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Speaker 1: the top build act on Dick Clark's Good Old Rock

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Speaker 1: and Roll Review, a live show held the Latin Casino

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Speaker 1: in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. In an eerie coincidence, he

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Speaker 1: was in the middle of singing Lonely Tear Drops and

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Speaker 1: had just gotten to the line my heart is Crying

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Speaker 1: when he collapsed on stage. Some reports say Wilson hit

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Speaker 1: his head on the floor, while others say he struck

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Speaker 1: it on a piece of stage equipment. At first, the

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Speaker 1: audience thought it was all part of the show, more

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Speaker 1: theatrics from a performer known for his knee drops, split spins,

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Speaker 1: and back flips. However, Dick Clark knew better and told

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Speaker 1: the musicians to stop the music. Cornell Gunter of the Coasters,

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Speaker 1: was on stage providing backup vocals, and rushed to Wilson's

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Speaker 1: side to help him. He later reported that Wilson had

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Speaker 1: regained consciousness and was communicating with eye blinks when the

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Speaker 1: paramedics arrived to take him away. Not long after, though,

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Speaker 1: Wilson became comatose, a state from which he would never

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Speaker 1: fully recover. Four months later, in early nineteen seventy six,

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Speaker 1: Wilson did regain consciousness and was even able to take

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Speaker 1: a few unsteady steps around the room under his own power. However,

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Speaker 1: his improvement didn't last long. He soon fell back into

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Speaker 1: a semi comatose state, one where he was conscious but incapacitated,

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Speaker 1: unable to speak or move. Wilson was transferred to a

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Speaker 1: retirement community in New Jersey later that year, where he

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Speaker 1: received round the clock care. His estate was unable to

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Speaker 1: pay for these services, so many of Wilson's medical bills

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Speaker 1: were paid by Elvis Presley. Wilson's heart felt singing and

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Speaker 1: lively stagecraft had always been a source of inspiration for Pressley,

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Speaker 1: as it was to many other artists including James Brown,

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Speaker 1: Michael Jackson, and Prince but Elvis was also a close

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Speaker 1: personal friend. He had made it a point to meet

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Speaker 1: Jackie Wilson years earlier, and the two of them really

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Speaker 1: hit it off. There's a famous photo of the singer's

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Speaker 1: posing together and to the side as a note from

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Speaker 1: Elvis that says, you got you of friend for life.

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Speaker 1: Footing the bill for Wilson's care was Elvis's way of

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Speaker 1: making good on that promise, and he did so right

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Speaker 1: up until his own death in August of nineteen seventy seven.

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Speaker 1: As for Jackie Wilson, he lived another seven years semi

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Speaker 1: comatos and then passed away on January twenty first, nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighty four, from complications of pneumonia. He was only forty

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Speaker 1: nine years old. By the time of his death. Jackie

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Speaker 1: Wilson was deeply in debt and didn't have enough money

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Speaker 1: to his name to even afford a headstone. Consequently, he

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Speaker 1: was buried in an unmarked grave at West Lawn Cemetery,

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Speaker 1: not far from his home town. For the next few years,

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Speaker 1: it seemed like the world might forget Jackie Wilson, but

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Speaker 1: then in nineteen eighty seven, it finally gave him his due.

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Speaker 1: The singer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall

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Speaker 1: of Fame, and that same year, a Detroit radio station

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Speaker 1: raised enough money to buy a marker for his grave.

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Speaker 1: You'd never know it from his records or from his concerts,

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Speaker 1: but life hadn't been easy for Jackie Wilson, and he

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Speaker 1: sometimes made it harder for others too. His epitaph speaks

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Speaker 1: to those heartaches and so their ultimate relief. It says,

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Speaker 1: no more lonely tear drops, I'm gay, Bluesier, and hopefully

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Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than

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Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you have a second and you're

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Speaker 1: so inclined, please consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and

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Speaker 1: rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you

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Speaker 1: can send your feedback directly to me by writing to

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Speaker 1: This Day at I heart media dot com. Thanks as

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Speaker 1: always the Channeler Mays for producing the show, and thanks

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Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again

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Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History Class