Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – One of the best moments during my final show on WGR Sports Radio 550 in March of 2023 was when a recorded message from Art Wander was aired.

In his mid-90s, at the time, Art had taken the time to congratulate me and wish me well. It meant so much coming from someone who accomplished so much in our business.

For me, Art went from competition to colleague over the years. At one point, he and I went head-to-head on the radio. I was hosting One-On-One Sports on WBEN, and Art was hosting his show on WGR.

I’ll be honest with you, I feel like I disagreed with most of what Art would say, so I wasn’t a big fan.

After all, he was the person who sent then Bills general manager Bill Polian into a famous rant over criticism of Jim Kelly and Ted Marchibroda. Polian said Kelly was their quarterback and Marchibroda was their offensive coordinator, and yelled that if you didn’t like it, you could get out of town!

That is why I’m so glad we had a chance to work together at Empire Sports Network.

I’ll bet you’ve experienced what I did. You have an opinion of someone who you never met, but then when you get a chance to meet them and get to know them, you realize your opinion was wrong.

Art was rather bombastic on the air, at times, but he was one of the nicest people I have ever met in broadcasting. He would go out of his way to help anybody, at any time.

The first time I met Art was for a show called “Pros and Cons” that aired on Empire. Art was one of the hosts, along with former Buffalo News sports editor Larry Felser and former WGRZ-TV sports director Ed Kilgore. I was still a young broadcaster and relatively unknown in the market, so I was nervous going on a show with the big boys, so to speak.

Art welcomed me with open arms, even though I was the competition, and made me feel extremely comfortable.

When we worked together at Empire, I finally got to know Art, and I had no idea about his broadcasting history. Art was a major player in radio in the 1960s and 1970s when he managed a handful of stations in some of the largest markets in the country.

Then he told me about the time he met the Beatles and my jaw dropped.

Art was working in radio in New York City when the Beatles played at Shea Stadium in 1965. I was amazed at the stories he was telling me. The night of the concert, Art watched from one of the dugouts. There just happened to be a guy by the name of Mick Jagger in that dugout, and a young up-and-coming singer by the name of Diana Ross.

Art got to know Brian Epstein, who was the Beatles’ manager. In fact, Art’s station in the city was one of the first in the country to play the Beatles’ iconic song “A Day In The Life”. Epstein sent Art a thank you letter, and Art’s good friend Bob Koshinski told me Art kept that letter in his wallet right up until his death.

Epstein actually invited Art up to the Beatles’ suite while they were staying in New York City. Who knew the “Tiny Tot of the Kilowatt” and the man known as “Artie Baby Boo Boo” hung out with the Beatles!

Everyone at Empire loved Art.

The moment that really meant so much to me was when my young son, Jonathan, would come to visit me at work. Art went out of his way to make sure Jonathan had fun. He would always do magic tricks, with one of his favorites being the one where he’d make a cigarette seemingly disappear by putting it up his nose.

As a parent, when someone does something nice for your child, you know how much that means. I thought it was just because Art wanted to do something nice for a fellow on-air personality, but Art did this any time an Empire employee had one of their kids at the station.

He just loved to make kids smile and laugh.

But it wasn’t just kids. Art loved to make everyone smile and laugh.

Rest in peace, Art.