WRBH Blog: On Gavin

For Gavin Sutton

Written by Tim Vogel, February 4 2015

For WRBH, his story started out just like so many others…

A few years ago, a man walked through the door of our radio station with an interest in becoming a volunteer.

At the time, this man seemed quiet, maybe unassuming, but his audition went very well.  And his volunteer availability was good & flexible so we gave him a passing grade and set up a time when he could start reading for WRBH.

This man’s name was Gavin Sutton and, little did we know, that this man would become one of the best friends that WRBH would ever have.

Over the next few years, I had the privilege of getting to know Gavin.  I quickly found out that the initial quietness that I had identified wasn’t actually him being quiet at all.  It was Gavin learning.  He was always learning… thinking… studying… considering.

As time passed, the conversations, insight, humor, poetry, literature, and advice piled up.  His intellect demanded the very best you had to offer every time you spoke with him.  To talk and listen to Gavin was to think… really think… and to grow.

We lost Gavin a few weeks ago at the age of 50.  Speaking personally, I suppose this aspect of my life could be described as sheltered, but I’ve never had a sudden loss in my life… much less anyone that I would call a friend.  I miss Gavin terribly.  We all do.  I sometimes struggle coming to terms with that.  And the cruel irony is that there is no person whose advice and wisdom I want more right now than Gavin’s.

Its been suggested that I keep this blog post to certain number of characters and letters.  This is something else that I’m struggling with.  I could go on for volumes.  But I will do my best to summarize.

To me, Gavin was a kind of blacksmith… but voice and mind were his hammers.  For those of us that knew him… we were the metal.  And when he spoke, wrote, and read… his impact shaped us all into better people.

Until the next time, friend…