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No. 15 Vol. 6
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By Elsie Walker lthough people may not recognize his face, Richard Tomlinson’s voice is familiar. The resident at the Long Valley border is better known to radio listeners and DJ fans as Doc South.
www.theblackrivernews.com
June 2017
Doc South Shares Some ‘Blurps’ In New Book Many have heard him as a DJ at the annual Memorial Motor Madness in Hackettstown and weekly at the Chatterbox in Sussex County, along with other venues. For years, he was heard on the airwaves of WRNJ and WNTI, both in Hackett-
stown. In addition to sharing the music of the great oldies, he had an afternoon talk show called The Front Porch. Though no longer on radio, Doc is keeping on the air through his own free webcast, and he is also entertaining and inspiring people through the written word. He’s published two books: “The Book of Doc: Blurps, The Starter Set;” and “Aunt Barb’s Magic Oven.” The former is available on Amazon.com and either book can be ordered for $12 plus shipping by contacting Tomlinson at docsouthshow@yahoo. com. One might wonder how Tomlinson got the handle of Doc South. Tomlinson explained that he had lived in the northeast, but moved to North Carolina for a few years in the early 1980s. While in the south, he was a rescue person, what he described as being between an
EMT and paramedic. Many of those he helped were unhappy about being ill and he found that bringing them some kind of smile helped. When he came back north and got into radio, his experience inspired the handle, Doc South. Tomlinson also noted that rock and roll started in the South so the name is also homage to that. As part of one of his radio shows Tomlinson would share what inspired his first book; he’d share blurps. What is a blurp? “It’s a cross between a blog and burp,” shared Tomlinson. People may understand what the word “blog” has to do with it, but when asked about the “burp” part, Tomlinson went on to explain that it comes from a story he wrote about God creating man. In the story, God shows an angel a special feature he included. When the angel presses on man’s
stomach, he lets out a noise. The noise becomes an interesting feature as it can come out at the most unexpected times and be the source of giggles. A blurp is an unexpected “aha” moment or smile. Tomlinson shared that he was inspired to look for, and capture, those moments by his granddaughter, Sadie. He and Sadie were getting ready to leave on a road trip. She was about age four or five and came up to Tomlinson with a fist full of four leaf cloves. When he asked where she got them, she told him that she picked them in his yard. He replied that he’d never seen any there. Sadie told him, “They are there. You just have to look for them.” That’s what Tomlinson
started doing, keeping his eyes open for those moments that bring a smile and capturing them in short pieces. “I’ve been trying as best I can to pleasantly change people’s attitudes,” he says. “Without preaching and scolding, I try to point out many of the great gifts in life that many of us don’t even notice.” He noted that he’s shared some blurps on his Doc South Facebook page. Also included in “Blurps The Starter Set,” are some short stories. His other book, “Aunt Barb’s Magic Oven,” actually started as a Thanksgiving Day blurp that took on a life of its own. Tomlinson gave an continued on page 2