CLEVELAND — For many years, Rick Abell was a must-listen for Clevelanders trying to beat rush hour traffic to and from work every day on Newsradio WTAM 1100.
Sadly, we found out on Monday that the 'Sky Chief' passed away at the age of 67. According to WTAM, citing Rick's wife Denise, Abell passed away on May 5. He had been dealing with a long illness and died after complications from hip surgery.
Rick Abell was one of the best in the business at pinpointing traffic delays, but his reports were unconventional, to say the least. It wasn't just his southern-drawl that made Abell different than anything else you heard on Cleveland's airwaves. He also had no problem pointing out if you were a 'rubbernecker' or an 'idiot' that caused an accident. Abell is a member of the Ohio Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and was named National Traffic Reporter of the Year four times.
I got to know Rick when he went from radio to television in the late 2000s. We shared the same office at Metro Networks and you always knew when he was in the building. He was loud and fun, just like his traffic reports.
One thing I didn't know about the 'Sky Chief' was that he published a book in 2012 called Abell Airborne. According to the description on Amazon, one can experience his 'edgy, humorous, unleashed style of delivering traffic and breaking news by reading the book as Rick shares true stories of what really happens behind the scenes with people in the news industry.'
Edgy and humorous was an apt description for Abell. Just don't forget to add talented as well.
