I heard about Doc’s death the same way I first heard from Doc himself…on the internet.

That didn’t make it any easier to know a good friend is gone.

Doc Phillips worked in radio a long time, also making the transition to freelance voiceover talent and producer. He was still doing weekends on the air before his heart attack this week. With complications from his diabetes, it was evidently too much for his system to fight off.

Again, I only know this because of the internet.

Doc was one of the first people to say “hi” on the Voiceover Bulletin Board (vo-bb.com), which has become a second family to so many of us in the VO field. Some would say it actually ranks higher than that when you want the company of others who actually “get” what you do.

He was one of the first cheerleaders of my various attempts at new demos, encouraged me on starting this web log. And he was one of the first I traded correspondence with directly when he mentioned a promotional LP put out by TM Productions called “Tomorrow Radio”, which had some terrific (and prescient!) comedy treatment of what radio was turning into. Turns out I had a copy of the disc, and got a kick out of sending it to him as an mp3…again, via internet. It was kind of a thrill to link up with another soul who knew what a format-reference to “Punk Country” was all about!

I’d lost track of Doc this past year. When I’d click my link to his blog, I caught a few hints he was not in good health, but knew nothing more than that.

I do wish I’d gotten to know him better. I consider myself fortunate to have known him at all.

— over and out —