The same name came up when Dad was telling stories: “Wait until ye hear what Johnny did” was the start of many a story – and sure, why wouldn’t it be? Johnny Anderson, the eldest of the clan, is Dad’s older brother by eight years.  Always ahead of the crowd, he was a musician before…

From his earliest days of going to the cinema as a boy, Dad was crazy about cowboys and indians. He watched endless western matinees in the 1950’s. And those films left a lasting impression on him. In fact he loved to do a Jack Palance routine with Sean Coyle on his radio show: “Pick it…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I came across a speech that Oscar Wilde gave on 17 March 1882. He was aged twenty-seven and on a lecture tour of North America. He participated in the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations that were organised in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. Like Gerry, Oscar rarely veered into patriotism or politics. He…

Gerry had a wonderful back catalogue of fun, wacky and musically brilliant songs that he played regularly on the show. They were carefully stored in this metal flight case. He knew that the CD’s in there were all he needed to craft a show around. He purchased the case because he had learned that CD’s…

C’mere til I tell ya about BBC Christmas parties, bog rolls, rubber men, pensions and why country men are more dangerous. Gerry loved to people watch especially on holidays. He also loved to collect stories of silly things that people did or funny situations that they got themselves into. I can still hear him laughing…

It didn’t take a lot to get them going. But Gerry and Sean could get into character and really have a go at Gerry Adams, Gregory Campbell, Daniel O’Donnell, Stephen Nolan or Jackie Fullerton, to name a few. They had a great way of pinpointing the unique character, eccentricities or turn of phrase that each…

One of the things that is heart warming for us as a family is listening to how he helped people through the darkest of days during the troubles. He seemed to be an oasis of hilarious fun and normality sandwiched between the constant tragedy dominating the news and political shows. Last August, on the Antiques…

He was genuinely spooked! Especially after his visit to Richhill Castle Co. Armagh where he felt the ghost of a small boy tug at his sleeve. And he witnessed a solid oak dining table being lifted and smacked down. Most likely by spirits who wanted to make their presence felt. Gerry needed a large hot…

Gerry would have been 78 today. He would have hated that! But we would have cheered him up with presents like a book, a cream jumper, a jacket (real clothes) and some smellies/aftershave. Then it would have been a night out starting with vodka and lemonade, a steak dinner (pepper sauce on the side), dessert…