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Tom Magliozzi, half of the beloved 'Car Talk' brothers on National Public Radio, died Monday following complications from Alzheimer's Disease. He was 77
Magliozzi and his younger brother Ray, 65, called themselves 'Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers.' Both grew up in the blue-collar town of East Cambridge, Mass., and went on to graduate from MIT.
They became accidental radio hosts on public radio station WBUR in Boston in 1977 and 10 years later were picked up for national distribution.
They retired in 2012. NPR and Sirius XM satellite radio still broadcast weekly reruns.
While both were mechanics, the show was devoted as much to humor as automotive expertise.
They commented frequently on the regions of their callers and their own pronounced Boston accents became part of their shtik.
Tom's laugh was ' the working definition of infectious laughter,' longtime 'Car Talk' producer Doug Berman told NPR. 'Before I met him, I heard him. I'd just hear this laughter, and then there'd be more of it, and people would sort of gather around him. He was just kind of a magnet.'
Tom Magliozzi worked briefly as an engineer after he finished at MIT. He later said an 'epiphany' led him to quit, think about his life and finally open a 'do-it-yourself' auto repair shop, Hackers Heaven, with his brother.
They later opened another shop, the Good News Garage.
We can be happy that he lived the life he wanted to live.
They started in radio when WBUR wanted to assemble a panel of auto mechanics for an on-air discussion. Only Tom showed up, but the station liked it, and the next week he brought Ray with him.
They eventually opened an office for the show, near the garage in Harvard Square.
The sign directed people to the law firm of 'Dewey, Cheatham & Howe,' which they often referenced on the show.
They took a breezy, somewhat jaded view of the auto industry, with particular venom often directed toward the internal combustion engine.
Their advice was mechanically sound, but practical. They were fond of wordplay and reminiscing about cars in their past.
They won a Peabody Award in 2002 and were speakers at MIT's commencement in 1999.
Despite their age difference, Berman said, the brothers had been close since childhood.
'We can be happy that he lived the life he wanted to live,' Ray Magliozzi said in a statement Monday. 'Goofing off a lot, talking to you guys every week, and primarily, laughing his ass off.'
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