It was a just another day (at least it was for me) on the morning of May 7. I had just concluded prerecording a new radio show that I began hosting, just three weeks prior to Mr. Bill Nunn Jr. making his final departure to join his ancestors.
I peeped into the office of Alan Lincoln the former president of the Radio Division of the Sheridan Broadcasting Network one of the pioneers of Black American radio broadcasting and syndication. He now heads the Riverside Sales Group which has formed a partnership with 1550 WZUM in Pittsburgh, the classic oldies station. Alan is also the executive producer of the aforementioned program that I host, “Knights over Egypt.”
Anyway, I was about to yell out my usual “see you next week,” but before I could get it out Alan said, “I know you could not have known but Bill Nunn passed away last evening.” At that point my next destination became a blur and seemed a trillion miles away. I cannot for the life of me recall my response but it had to be incomprehensible. The next action that I was truly cognizant of was getting on the elevator in my office building and pushing the button to take me to the 18th floor. My schedule was so hectic on the date that Mr. Nunn passed away, I could not have possibly been privy to the information because I left home too early that morning to get the news and I was far too exhausted to even turn on the television when I arrived back late that night.
One scene that repeated itself over and over in my head was an encounter that Pittsburgh Tribune-Review sports columnist John Harris and I had bumping into Mr. Nunn one afternoon several years ago descending the stairs at the Steelers practice facility on Pittsburgh’s South Side as we were on our way up to the media room. He looked over at me with that usual gleam in his eye and asked, “boy are you alright?” “Yes, sir,” I replied almost snapping to attention.
See, with all of the negative connotations surrounding the use of the word “boy” it often remains unacceptable to employ the word even when it is made use of by African-Americans. However, each time that he referred to you as “boy,” the moment became more memorable and magical because when Bill Nunn Jr. ceased to be formal with you, it was then and only then that you knew you had arrived.
Now here I was arriving at his memorial, what a strange sensation for me. One of the other hats that I wear is that of musical promoter. I have booked musical groups (over 60 shows in Pittsburgh alone) and individuals such as War, Norman Connors, Roy Ayers, Chick Corea and Diane Reeves and a few more (some shows bombed and I don’t care to recall those). Although these are great artists in their own right but none have ever come close to having the impact on me that Bill Nunn Jr. did. As far as sports ownership goes in the mid 1960s when Dan Rooney was handed the reins of much of the day-to-day team operations by his father Art Rooney (The Chief) Dan Rooney then made the decision to hire Charles Henry (Chuck) Noll to coach the talent and William (Bill) Nunn Jr. to become an integral part of and eventually the head of scouting operations. When Bill Nunn Jr. helped identify the talent, the Steelers ownership and administration became athletic alchemists and chemists turning lead laden athletic pools into silver Lombardi trophies all the while developing an antidote and antibiotic that rescued a team and a city from the systemic poison of losing and the bacteria of incompetence that up until that point seemed to have been running rampant through their social and economic veins with no relief in sight.
This is the first of a five part series on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Bill Nunn Jr. from the upcoming book “Portrait of Eternity; The Life and Journey of Bill Nunn Jr.,” by Aubrey Bruce. Next week; “Omega.”
(Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741.)
