Perquimans County NcArchives News.....WOLFMAN JACK DIES OF HEART ATTACK AT HIS HOME IN BELVIDERE  July 2, 1995
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GERALD WIGGINS gwiggins@inteliport.com April 19, 2006, 10:24 am

THE DAILY ADVANCE July 2, 1995
 FAMED RADIO DEEJAY COLLAPSES AT HIS HOME IN BELVIDERE SATURDAY JULY 1, 1995
     BY; JULIAN EURE STAFF WRITER FOR THE DAILY ADVANCE.
 BELIVERE- ROBERT SMITH KNOWN AROUND THE WORLD AS THE HOWLING DISC JOCKEY"
WOLFMAN JACK" DIED AT HIS HOME IN THIS TINY PERQUIMANS COUNTY HAMLET SATURDAY
OF A MASSIVE HEART ATTACK. HE WAS 57.
 SMITH HAD JUST RETURNED FROM WASHINGTON D.C. WHERE HE DOES A WEEKLY RADIO SHOW,
WHEN THE HEART ATTACK OCCURRED, SAID LONNIE NAPIER, SMITH LONGTIME ROAD MANAGER.
 "HE HAD JUST GOTTEN HOME AND WALKED UP THE STAIRS TO GIVE HIS WIFE A KISS, 
WHEN IT HIT HIM," NAPIER SAID. THE PERQUIMANS COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD WAS CALLED,BUT
SMITH COULD NOT BE REVIVED. HE DIED SHORTLY AFTER 10.30 A.M.
  "HE WAS A GREAT GUY, A VERY UNSELFISH HUMAN BEING WHO WANTED TO GIVE HIMSELF
TO EVERYBODY,"NAPIER SAID.
  "IF YOU GOT TO KNOW HIM LIKE I DID, HE WAS TRULY A GREAT FELLOW," SAID DOUG
LAYDEN, CO-OWNER WITH HIS PARENTS OF A GROCERY STORE NEAR SMITH HOME IN 
BELVIDERE.
   "NOBODY HERE IN BELVIDERE EVER MADE A BIG FUSS OVER HIM LIVING HERE. WE
TREATED HIM JUST LIKE HE WAS REGULAR PERSON, AND HE SEEMED TO LIKE THAT LAYDEN"
SAID."HE TOLD ME HE LIKE THE PEACE AND QUIET HERE, AND THE FACT HE DIDN'T HAVE
TO BE WOLFMAN WHEN HE WAS HERE.
   ROBERT SMITH, A BROOKLYN, NEW YORK NATIVE, WAS ALREADY A DISC JOCKEY ON LOS
ANGELES RADIO AND CALLING HIMSELF "WOLFMAN JACK" WHEN HE CAUGHT THE EAR OF MOVIE
PRODUCER GEORGE LUCAS IN THE EARLY 1970S.
   GEORGE LUCAS, CAST THE GRAVELY-VOICE ROBERT SMITH AS HIMSELF IN HIS HIT 1973
MOVIE   "AMERICAN GRAFFITI." SMITH'S CAREER SKYROCKET. SMITH ALSO APPEAR IN THE
MOVIE   "THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL," A POPULAR WEEKLY MUSIC SHOW IN THE 1970S.
   SMITH'S TRADEMARK HOWL AND COOL-BUT QUIK DELIVERY INSPIRED A GENERATION OF 
DISC JOCKEYS. THE WOLFMAN EVEN INSPIRED A HIT SONG. THE GUESS WHO IMMORTALIZED 
SMITH WITH "CLAP FOR THE WOLFMAN" IN THE 1970S.
   IN RECENT YEARS, SMITH CONFINED HIMSELF TO HIS WEEKLY SYNDICATED RADIO SHOW
AND APPEARANCES AT "OLDY" ROCK-N-ROLL-SHOWS, NAPIER SAID, FOR THE PAST TWO 
WEEKS,HE HAD BEEN ON THE ROAD PROMOTING HIS NEW BOOK,  " HAVE MERCY"  .
  "ALL SMITH HEVER WANTED TO BE WAS A DJ AND PLAY RHYTHM AND BLUES. 
   SMITH HAD EXPERIENCED A " LITTLE ANGINA PROBLEM" A FEW YEARS AGO, BUT HAD 
NEVER HAD A HEART ATTACK BEFORE SATURDAY MORNING, NAPIER SAID.
   ROBERT SMITH AND HIS WIFE LUCY LAMB, A PERQUIMANS COUNTY NATIVE BOUGHT THE
HISTORIC COLONIAL-ERA HOME IN BELVIDERE IN 1973, BUT DID NOT LIVE THERE ON A 
REGULAR BASIS UNTIL A FEW YEARS AGO AFTER THEY SOLD THERE HOME IN L.A."NAPIER
SAID"
   BESIDES HIS WIFE LUCY , SMITH IS SURVIVED BY A SON, TOD, AND A DAUGHTER, JOY
   FUNERAL PLANS ARE NOT COMPLETE, BUT NAPIER" SAID SMITH WILL PROBABLY BE 
BURIED IN PERQUIMANS COUNTY .
    

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