It was around 1974. At that time Dr. Dimento and “The mighty KB” 1520 - WKBW AM radio was the station of choice at night. "Smoke on the Water" was played a lot. T-Bird would come on the radio and join in with us. He always made us laugh with his wit. He always was a good kid. He really liked to party and wanted to have a good time with his pals. He loved his music and sometimes would play it on the radio. Hence, his new handle of "Midnight Special". One night he had the channel in an uproar with his "Mush Mouth" of "The Fat Albert Show". None of us could stop laughing. He was a trip! At that time I (Shadow 7) was repairing TV's in a shop in Little Falls. I had my station set up in the back. Once I stayed there until 12 midnight laughing my ass off. He was great.

     I knew T-Bird since 1967-68 when he first got on CB radio. In the winter when you went to his house he always had a big pot of water on the heater downstairs to make the room more humid. Years ago we went to a ham fest in a Manhattan parking lot. On the way there Rick made like he was in the war and started in with his famous story about "Sarg Got His Ear Shot Off By a Bullet". "We Had To Make Him a Wooden Ear". I had a hell of a time driving because I was laughing so hard. I was swerving in and out of lane a few times. My stomach was hurting! When we got there he bought a Hammarlund HQ-150 SW receiver that the seller said worked. We brought it back to his house and it didn’t work. Then his father came downstairs and said "Where did you get that thing .... In a parking lot?" We couldn't stop laughing. Later he bought a 'Johnson Viking Valiant I' which was lost in the flood of 1984. He got into cooking and went to school for it. He graduated top of his class.

     When I last called him around April 26, 2008, his line was disconnected. I called his brother for the new number but that's when I found out about Ricky. I called a week too late. He will be missed!