Johnny Strange was my best friend. We met in Lubbock in early 1999 when radio management at KLZK-FM wanted to find a match to do mornings with me. I’d gone through three other partners when Johnny walked through the door…strolling along confidently and fashionably dressed with long hair and stylish glasses, quiet but strong. He popped his air check cassette tape of a show in the production studio deck and hit play, he turned to me and smiled and waited to see my reaction at his craft. I was pleased and listened attentively and thought to myself….finally a great radio jock that I can move forward in my career with...  and I was excited about this venture that was to become the most rewarding, fun, creative, worth it, time of my life.  I smiled and turned to him, knowing how good I thought he was, he crossed his arms on his chest and leaned his chair back against the wall and it fell over and he tumbled out onto the floor and we both exploded in laughter…and I never stopped laughing. He was the only person that could make me laugh till I cried every day. His mom called us Laurel and Hardy…we just GOT EACH OTHER. We had a lot of inside jokes and raised a lot of eyebrows…and we had a blast. Came to Waco in early 2000 and started mornings as a team in 2001. Johnny had a disability called Charcot Marie Tooth which was a neurological disorder that affected the nerves in his hands and lower extremities, and although it kept him down many a day…most never thought about it because he always pushed himself to hurdle any obstacle he faced. Since the day I met him I’ve never taken for granted the things I could do so easily, like button my shirt, or put on my socks, or open a door, or walk up a ramp, or most importantly, RUN which he talked about quite a bit. He worked daily to find different ways of doing things to get by as normally as possible. Despite his disability he went to school in San Francisco, starred in TV shows like Americas Most Wanted...(as an actor)...movies like A Scanner Darkly, Idiocracy, and The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn coming out this year. He even directed and appeared in his own film in Waco called Strange Radio. He accomplished more in his life that most people with no disabilities ever even thought about doing. Johnny Strange was a great friend, son, brother, boyfriend, DJ, an actor, director, a writer, filmmaker, an improviser, lover of music, singer, comedian, a snappy dresser, an eager student, a studied teacher, a rock star…a philosopher, and most importantly, a great man.

I found some of his poetry, writings, and doodles in a journal the other day…

These are his words:

I want them to sing when I die,

Songs that evoke remembrance of who I was

And what I meant to loved ones

I want them to feel pride for knowing me

And how I adapted to their thoughts

How I tried to feel what they felt

Sing when I’m gone and a dead man will smile

On my way to Heaven and wait for the rest to join him

That’s what I want ~Ryan Melton

I am proud to have had Johnny as my best friend. I can only hope where he is there are NO signs that say walk don’t run. Although he couldn’t physically run later in his life, I’d say he won the race. And the beat goes on…
......Dana McKenzie