DALLAS (105.3 THE FAN) - The original meaning of the James Joycian phrase "Hail fellow well met" carried with it no hidden message or modern irony, and so it perfectly fit the late, great Roger Emrich.
"The Raj Mahal" was an open(-hearted) book, sincere and really only dabbled in irony in his hilarious and self-effacing portrayal of a hip-hop artist on 105.3 The Fan's "Yo Roger Raps." But otherwise, the longtime DFW radio legend and PA voice for AT&T Stadium, who passed over the weekend at 62, was almost cartoonishly kind and warm, genuine and generous, a human teddy bear always offering a tip of one of his hundreds of fedoras, always with a giving spirit even larger than his prodigious talent and smooth, booming voice.
Ted Emrich, his son, his pride and a fellow sportscaster, announced his father's death on social media.
"The man with the voice of God is now in heaven," Ted tweeted. "Your relentless spirit, positive attitude, and legacy will live forever."
Ted is part of Raj's legacy, but so is the senior Emrich's incurably sunny approach to life. That approach forged on, even after the 2014 passing of his beloved wife, Cris, and even in recent years when health issues caused him to propel himself along the halls of 105.3 The Fan and AT&T Stadium aboard his two-wheeled scooter.
Roger served his country in the Air Force and on a path into The Texas Radio Hall of Fame, he served all who knew him.
When on Sunday I posted a few personal thoughts on the life and death of Roger, the response in comments was wonderful and voluminous (as I'm sure next Saturday's attendance at his 10 a.m. memorial at Family Cathedral of Praise in Mesquite will be), but for one. A troubled Facebook "friend" wrote that I should "Learn from a man who was not pompous. Roger was genuine. Unlike Mike Fisher."
The unfortunate soul got slapped down by fellow posters, of course. I asked him to remove the post, but only because it is in horribly poor taste to use that forum, at this time, to spew venom at the eulogizer -- yes, even if the eulogizer is pompous ol' Fish.
(Sidebar: I prefer to think that I am more "genuine" than I am "pompous." But maybe I'm just "genuinely pompous!")
But I did not scrub the comment, and still haven't, and likely won't. And why? Because my offended "friend" is right. I should strive, every day, in every interaction, in every hallway, to be more like Roger Emrich, un-ironic "Hail fellow well met."
And so should we all.
