Random Thoughts
Rocci Fisch
Rocci watches what's out there and has a lot to say about it. Random Thoughts and Random Tweets are quick-read, running commentaries featuring his observations about the news, pop culture and the media, zested up with Rocci's unique humor.

Juan
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The Greeting: “Rocci Baby, how you doin’,” asked Eduardo Ureta.
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He always seemed like he knew something you didn’t.
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A good sense of humor, a good laugh.
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He always wanted to know the skinny.
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He posted a lot on Facebook, in Spanish.
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Pictures galore. Picturesque places. Been to so many.
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. . . By the pool, towel wrapped around, swimming pool over his shoulder, mountains in the BG.
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. . . On a boat with a life jacket on, waterfalls in the distance.
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. . . Leaning on a fence at Volcan Osorno (volcano) on the shore of Llanquihue Lake.
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. . . Sailing The Aventura in San Francisco Bay in 1973.
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. . . Believe It: With Fidel Castro. The guy got around.
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. . . Relaxing with a good cigar.
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. . . Always wine, the accompaniment.
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. . . Or champagne, sitting in a bucket on the table, him in a chaise lounge in Pebble Beach with Maria Casanueva.
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. . . Always ready to toast.
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Good God! Hippy-looking in Marin Country, Cali back in ’72. Charles Manson?
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The aviator sunglasses and regular glasses too.
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The sun tan. The necklace, the bracelet.
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The hats . . .
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. . . A signature sign. Often duplicated by friends.
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. . . Big on straw, with the band around the base.
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. . . A top hat with Richie and Barbara Adams at a function, all three duded up.
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. . . Ball caps worn frontwards and backwards.
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. . . A bandana scarf.
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. . . A pancho he wore walking the line in a NABET strike.
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. . . The blue jeans, the jacket.
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Proud of his family and his native Chile.
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On the road. On the Harley.
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Many ABC years. Editor in the 1” tape room: two, two and three, the machines. Maybe one quad.
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. . . Crashing and burning but not upset.
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. . . But he could get upset and become a Spanish hot-blood.
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. . . Monday through Friday but sometimes the weekend.
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Then to NBC, an intake operator.
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. . . When he died, Meet the Press gave him an on-air credit: “In Memory of Juan Ureta.” So nice.
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A classic picture of him: with John Williams and Richie out to dinner somewhere.
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Often he and Richie would pop up to the fourth floor and stop by my office, see what was going on.
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. . . We’d talk a bit and then they had to go cuz of World News. I didn’t cuz I was a slave to the weekend.
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. . . On their way out the door they stopped and called to me.
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. . . I looked up and saw them bending over with their bare asses mooning me. Then they were on their way.
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. . . It was pretty funny.
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On Jan. 25, Richie posted on Facebook that his dearest friend Juan had died at hospice in Arlington after a long battle with cancer.
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People couldn’t believe it and many didn’t know he was sick.
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Richie sat with him that morning and held his hand. He was not in pain.
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“Throughout his years of illness he maintained a sense of dignity and calm,” wrote Richie.
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Juan was a unique person. He was the man.
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UH . . . Big Man in Town—The Four Seasons, 1964 on Philips Records.
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. . . That he was.