Jordan in the News

The "Jordan Rich Show " is not for the emphatic talk radio listener. If you're looking for long-winded debates on campaign spending, weapons research, or preserving the right of a fetus, you won't find it here. This program is not about right or wrong. It's about listening, not judging, and having a little fun.

"I don't want to hang up on people and I don't want them hanging up on me," said Rich, who was born and raised in Boston and attended Curry College in Milton.

It has never been Rich's style to antagonize the listener. When he was 18 and breaking into the business at WRKO, Rich never yearned to be a famous squawker. He liked being a weather reporter. He liked playing sidekick to the host, and he liked playing Broadway music, which eventually led to his own morning show, "Music Sunday."

Rich wasn't as enthralled with being a disc jockey as he was with being a talk show host. He says he doesn't miss spinning records.

"This is broadcasting at its core," said Rich, who's married and has two young daughters. "Touching people, communicating, speaking from the heart."

There may be no other heart he has touched as much as his beloved Sophie, a 70-year-old regular caller from New Bedford who listens to Rich every weekend he's on the air.

On this particular night, Sophie arrived not a minute too late. The call box was still burning with listeners voicing their anger over the bichon frise's demise, but Sophie didn't have time for anger. She had had a dream, and she had called to tell the host he had been in the dream.

"Now, Sophie," Rich said to her, "people in love don't tell lies."

"You know I love you, baby," Sophie says. "I wouldn't lie to you."

"I know you do, Sophie," Rich repeated over and over.

Her midnight companion has said enough. Now, it seems, Sophie can allow herself to slide into slumber. She's heard the last voice she needs to before calling it a night.

Another faithful listener, delivery man Pat Pasquale, takes his appreciation for Rich one step further. Without fail, Pasquale arrives before 2 a.m. with a fresh cup of coffee and a bagel for Rich. Pasquale, a man who used to read one newspaper a day, claims to now read five a day since he started listening to Rich.

"He perks my interests," Pasquale said. "He touches on current issues by putting humor into it."

While Rich sipped the coffee, Pasquale stayed in the studio during the broadcast, listening with a headset, laughing and enjoying the latest prank Rich has cast on his audience.