Who’s Who
Get to know Says You!
The Living Room
Seated Stereo Left
Carolyn Faye Fox
Who’s on first? Why, it’s our cultural critic/food and travel writer, incorrigible punster, and pleased as punch to hold the title as the most experienced player – she never misses a game. During the day she is a subversive suburban Sarah Lawrence alum. Carolyn’s favorite fan description: a kinder, gentler Dorothy Parker.
Arnie Reisman
Arnie’s always seated with a woman on each arm: Twice the Poet Laureate of Martha’s Vineyard, he’s also an award-winning writer, playwright, and producer. If every detail in his memory required its own seat, we’d all be sitting on the floor.
Paula Lyons
The epitome of poise under pressure, Paula utilizes the curiosity and analytical capacity that made her a renowned Consumer Reporter at WBZ-TV Boston and GMA to pitch bluffs that dangle enticingly, spinning the other team in the wrong direction. Not only can she carry a tune, her voice graces our hilarity with harmony.
Seated Stereo Right
Tony Kahn
If NPR had a Hall of Fame, Tony would be approved unanimously on the first vote. Recipient of numerous awards for his achievements as producer, writer, and storyteller in radio, television, stage,and print, he’s earned the title of Podcast Pioneer as the first on the NPR block to reach listeners worldwide.
PS Did anyone notice where Tony parked his car?
Francine Achbar
Despite her professed indifference toward sports (excepting golf and polo), Francine is always in tip-top form for our game. Legendary in Boston TV circles for her executive prowess, corporate cred, and prickly personality, Francine is our oh-so quaffed Canadian teammate. She even married a doctor.
Barry Nolan
Diabolically clever, MENSA-qualified, and a long-running fixture as coast-to-coast TV host (including Hard Copy, Extra!, and Nite Beat), Barry sits sixth but he is number one in so many ways. Thanks to his initial career as a psychiatric social worker, Barry’s always at home with the cast. Legendary for composing spontaneous limericks, he finishes every round with an unerring ability to find the sweet spot.
Murray Horwitz
Never picky about which chair he sits, Murray’s always invited. He’s a triple threat to any gathering: Lyricist, Legend, and Loudmouth. He’s earned mythical status from Broadway to the AFI for his roster of achievements, awards, and anecdotes, not to mention his key role in pitching Says You! into the airwaves whilst a VP of Cultural Affairs at NPR in DC. Perhaps a little too jazzy in every retort, Murray believes word games are sport.
Richard Sher
Original Host, Writer & Producer
In a league of his own, Richard was the Creator, Producer, Original Host, Head Writer, and father of the Says You! mascot: Otto, the Palindromic Pup. Our Captain di tutti Captains – our General Manager of the Unmanageable – Richard orchestrated multiple unruly talents into a symphony of sophisticated silliness, a word-wide web of warmth, based on intellectual playfulness and teamwork – a show far more than the sum of its parts. He loved after-dinner parlor games beyond all reason.
Click here to read or listen to a tribute
honoring the memory of Richard.
The Stage
Dave Zobel
Host, Head Writer, Co-Producer, Director of the Back Nine – is there anything our resident wizard of words CAN’T do? As a Science Humorist (Caltech-certified), Dave has researched and written science-related stuff for the Loh Down on Science and for Disney – no Mickey-Mouse credentials here – and authored the science of TV’s The Big Bang Theory (available in English, German, and Chinese). From Says You! listener to valued contributor, from writing to hosting, Dave’s metaphoric rise is a dream come true.
Antonio Oliart
Can you hear the sharp snap of our wit, the groan elicited by a bad pun? Of course you can, because Antonio, our Audio Engineer/Chief Editor/Co-producer, creates the Sound of Says You! Not only is he a Decibel Dominator for The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer season at Tanglewood, he’s the recipient of two – TWO! – Grammy Awards (out of three nominations) and FIVE New England Emmy Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Audio. We count on him to be a sound mind and stay level headed in the midst of our cacophony.
Laura Price Sher
Our contessa of continuity, Laura has held us together for the last five years leading us to our 600th show. Richard knew she deeply appreciated the sense of family and intimacy a little show on the radio could cultivate. She loves to serve a mix of laughter and learning and has broadened the badinage by expanding the guest list. Beginning at a Big 8, then on to marketing, consulting, and teaching, Laura keeps us all in check with a touch of her manicured finger. Where will she point next?
Photo credit – https://www.facebook.com/laura.p.sher
NEPOTISTIC NOTES
Family game night
Arnie and Paula are married
Barry is married to Garland Waller
Tony is married to Harriet Reisen
Francine is married to Dr. Stuart Mushlin
Dr. Nancy Berg is Carolyn’s sister
Delaney Nolan is Barry’s daughter
Alex Horwitz is Murray’s son
Ben Raizen is Carolyn’s son-in-law
Richard and Laura are parental units to Ben Sher
(yes, the last voice you hear each week is Ben’s)
Our Guest List
Deb Hiett
Odds are you’ve already seen her in action – acting in the film “Bombshell,” on tv in shows including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Young Sheldon, The Office, Parks & Recreation – or providing the public service of singing “Quarantunes” on her website (debhiett.com), accompanied by her accordion. She writes plays, monologues, and screenplays, and steals second easily without batting an eye.
Photo credit – https://www.debhiett.com/photos
Erin McKean
Wearing her impressive credentials on her sleeve, – Erin speaks softly and carries a really, really big dictionary –, proof that lexicographers make strange TEDfellows. She’s a two-time TED Talker, editor of the language quarterly Verbatim, and author of numerous blogs and books. She’s the founder of Wordnik, the world’s biggest, strongest, fastest, and winningest (sorry!) online dictionary. Erin manages to stitch everything together, including her own dresses (pockets included!).
Photo credit – CC-BY Kirill Ignatieff (http://www.igkirill.com/)
Paul Magid
Nothing base about Paul’s skill set – Founder of The Flying Karamazov Brothers and an occasional Ted Talker, Paul performs, directs, acts, and writes, traveling coast-to-coast via stealth van (shhhh). To he who has juggled such items as sharp knives, flaming torches, whole fish, and a stick of butter, a simple baseball is child’s play.
Photo credit – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hwFWp60874
Cassandra Harris Lockwood
A training regimen that incorporates stints as the first female construction worker in NY state, an Alvin Ailey dancer, and “SheEO” of Phoenix Radio in Utica prepared Cassandra to cover all bets at the table with exceptional grace and power. Our unofficial Captain can bat left and throw right simultaneously, striking fear into the hearts and minds of the opposing team.
Photo credit – Archive of Oneida County Black History Donated to Hamilton
Ben Raizen
With his head in the clouds as a die-hard classicist, and a plethora of miles IN the air as a flight instructor, Ben’s superpower ON the air is his eye-hand-brain coordination. Sneaky, snarky, yet impeccably well-mannered, Ben lulls the opposition into giving him a softball pitch, which he then slams into the air like a …well, like a rocketship.
Photo credit – http://testnha.com/our-school/our-team/
Great Friends who join us when they can:
Fletcher “Flash” Wiley
Flash Wiley is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, a Fulbright Scholar and a former Air Force captain. He also received a master’s in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and his law degree from Harvard Law School. But all this pales in comparison to his status as Boston’s self-proclaimed ‘best over-60 power forward.’ Flash and Richard first met – actually collided – on the basketball court where a significant respect was found for each other’s love of gamesmanship. Currently a prominent figure in the legal community, Flash is extensively involved in Boston civic and charitable activities, including tenure as Chairman of the Board of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Still, it’s his appearances on Says You! that earn him the most recognition among game-players and word-a-philes nationwide.
Garland Waller
An award-winning producer of both independent documentaries and syndicated programs, Garland Waller is the Director of the TV Graduate Program at Boston University’s College of Communication. More to the point, she is fiendishly literate, with an all-out infectious laugh and a sharp wit that never cuts anyone because she’s a Quaker. Richard always said that the elegant repartee between Garland and her husband, Barry Nolan, reminded him of the graceful partnership of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.
Lenore Shannon
Lenore Shannon‘s life-long love of words and games hit its stride when she dropped to one knee and proposed to her now-husband after he was able to beat her at Scrabble. Lenore, a native Bostonian, is a fine-tuned fashionista who loves to design and re-design expensive houses. A study in contradictions, she’s a high-level physician recruiter with a passion for The Three Stooges. “Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard!”
tribulationsofpaulette.com
Tom Kemp
Although actor Tom Kemp is a Long Island native, you may think of him as a Bostonian, given his roles in films such as Shutter Island, The Departed, Mystic River, and Gone Baby Gone…as well as a turn as Whitey Bulger in “Unsolved Mysteries.” Yet versatility is his stock in trade. Proficient in bodysurfing, squash, and accents such as BBC and Cockney, he is also lead singer with an R & B group – The Basics. Clearly, this Tom Kemp is not to be confused with the political theorist and Marxist economic historian of the same name…despite the fact that our Tom played Che Guevara early in his career.
Behind the Scenes
Antonio Oliart
Co-Producer & Secretary of Sound
How does the principal flautist of the Mexico City Symphony find his way to a barn in Lincoln, Massachusetts? Such was Antonio’s journey from musical virtuoso to Says You! Major Domo. Faced with engineering a show often interrupted by passing locomotives and bovine bellowing, he managed to give the show its clear and distinct sound and never miss a muttered musing or whispered witticism. A graduate of McGill University and producer of CD’s for labels worldwide – Antonio is a master engineer, editor, and recording genius. And some day we hope he’ll be proud enough of his contribution to our show… to put it on his resume.
Nat Segaloff
Script Savant
Nat Segaloff is the author of numerous books and monographs including biographies of Arthur Penn, William Friedkin, Paul Mazursky, John Milius, and Stirling Silliphant. His latest book is the memoir, Screen Saver: Private Stories of Public Hollywood, available from the usual sources. His biography of speculative fiction writer Harlan Ellison will be published in 2017.
Philip Salkind
Thesaurus Wrecks
Philip Salkind has finally parlayed his unbelievable mastery of the arcane into a paying gig. He first met Richard across the bar at a health club restaurant where Phil, an underemployed musician, was slinging chardonnay and the occasional carrot juice while dazzling patrons with his television game show prowess. Quick to notice talent in the raw and on the the cheap, Richard hired Phil and thus began a collaboration that defines creative tension to this day. At present, during extended periods of hiatus from the Says You! juggernaut, he labors in the grove of telecommunications technology, building devices that are designed to locate his stock options.
The Says You! Hall of Fame?
If we had a “Says You!” Hall of Fame,
theirs are the portraits we would frame:
theirs are the portraits we would frame:
Steffan Aletti, New York NY
Chris Atkins, New York NY
Rachel Axler, Brooklyn NY
M.L. Baker, Tallahassee FL
Matt Barker, Asheville NC
John Barth, Brooklyn NY
Jim Baxter, Menlo Park CA
Cheshire Dave Beckerman, Emeryville CA
Ron Blau, Newton MA
Alan Boltz, Richmond VA
Ethan Bradford, Seattle WA
Laura Bretton, San Diego CA
L.L. Briar, Forestville CA
Glen Brooks, Seattle WA
Bob Byrd, Birmingham AL
James Callan, Seattle WA
Evelyn Carver, Middleboro MA
Barbara Clearbridge, Middlebury VT
Nichael Cramer, Guilford VT
Amy E. Currie, Concord NH
Vay David, East Hampton NY
David Dixon, Milwaukee WI
Katherine Dobberpuhl, Edgerton WI
John Duktig, Lilburn GA
Frank Fernandez, Seattle WA
Linda Ferrazzara, Randolph MA
M.R. Fletcher, Ashland MA
Elizabeth Gallenberg, Bruce SD
Adam Gertsacov, Greenbelt MD
Michael Giobbe, Framingham MA
Gary Gluck, southern CA
David Greenebaum, Macon GA
Vicki Griffey, New Albany IN
Ford and Charles Harding, Maplewood NJ
John Henderson, Ithaca NY
John Henderson, Lodi NY
Eugene Hobgood, New York NY
Joe Holbert, Juneau AK
Paul Johnson, Watertown MA
Trevan Jónsson, Nashville TN
E.B. Keck, Warwick RI
Paul Kimball, San Jose CA
Mike Klein, New York NY
Michael Kline, Wichita KS
Ellen Koivisto, San Francisco CA
Hy Levy, Manhattan Beach CA
Raymond Lockley, San Jose CA
Jerry Maburn, Atlanta GA
Ken Marks, Boca Raton FL
Patrick Marshall, Union City CA
Eric Martin, Renton WA
Stephen Matlock, Seattle WA
Ralph and Deborah McCaskey, San Pablo CA
Mike McGinnis, Seattle WA
Patrick McGinnis, Walnut Creek CA
Sally Melcher, Helena MT
Micheal Memmo, Seattle WA
R.A. Messinger, Tuscon AZ
Brannon Moore, Seattle WA
Madeline Mullen, Weston MA
Mark Murphy, Syracuse NY
Myles Nye, Los Angeles CA
Ian Osmond, Melrose MA
Paul Papanek, Los Angeles CA
Deidre Parker, Riverside CA
Naomi Penner, New York NY
Kent Peterson, Issaquah WA
Capt. Andy & Elise Reay-Ellers, Seattle WA
Karen Reed, Springfield OR
Lis Riba, Melrose MA
Ellis Robinson, Flat Rock NC
Walter Rose, Los Angeles CA
Carol Rosenthal, Santa Monica CA
Gary Russell, Melbourne FL
Beth Scarloss, Stanford CA
Jeff Sconyers, Seattle WA
Ben Scott, Cambridge MA
Steve Scribner, Lynnwood WA
Scot Shaw, Cambridge MA
Bill Spencer, Cockeysville MD
The Steele Family, Seattle WA
Amy Stodola, Harrisville NH
Alan Stump, Hayward CA
William Summerwerk, parts unknown
Tess Sutton, Seattle WA
Joshua Tanzer, Hoboken NJ
Brion Toss, Port Townsend WA
Peter Tucker, Douglasville GA
Thomas Utterback, Seattle WA
Allen Williams, Annandale VA
And there are even more – currently sending in contributions of rounds and words – prepping for their close-up. Thanks to all – we hope you’ve enjoyed YOUR 25 minutes of fame during OUR first 25 years.