by Tess Coffey, Assistant to the GM, WXPN

I took some time naming my 2nd child. He roared into the hospital delivery room on August 12, 1979. I never liked guessing with guys, and this one was born forthright. Before his birth, I’d thought about naming my son Allister. Allister Simon, a proper name; I could see him with a tie and glasses in London. Or maybe Apollo Simon — a Philadelphia god, an urban legend. But he wasn’t Allister or Apollo. Days passed, circumcision happened. The night before we were to take home the un-named king of my heart, my good friends John Kilroy & Jeff Kennedy came up the hospital’s back stairs after hours to visit. In my room WMMR was playing “The Core”, from Eric Clapton’s Slowhand, “There is fire, there is life, there is passion, fever and fury.” That was the beginning of the urban legend, Eric Simon, fire and life. From the Cradle to the grave, my rock-and-roll baby; solid citizen of the rock-and-roll world.