Bob Lassiter R.I.P.

Longtime Tampa-based talk show host Bob Lassiter died last week, and free103point9 co-conspirator Michael Poole ("The Professor") has an exhaustive obituary up on the WFMU blog. Lassiter's Lenny Bruce/Lester Bangs brilliance was first noticed on a WKRP-like station called WPLP in the late '80s. Back then, his evening show had a cast of regular call-in freaks (one was a lawyer named "Lionel," actually Michael LeBron, who eventually got his own talk show in Tampa, and, since the early '90s, in New York City). Lassiter later failed in Chicago, and then came back to Tampa for shows of varying quality. Poole's story is complete with links to sound files, and other info about an incredibly direct, acerbic, and hilarious talk show host. He was 61.