Brother Big John Gillis

From the July 15, 2007 Indianapolis Star:

Big John adjusts to big change

It's been about a month since Big John Gillis signed off his traffic reporting duties at WIBC-AM (1070).

Asked recently about his most memorable day as a reporter, Gillis, 59, recalls getting a letter from Landon Turner's mother, Rita. She thanked Gillis for a report he did on the Indiana University basketball player months before Turner was disabled in an auto accident.

Gillis did a story that praised Turner for taking the time to chat with fans, including some children, who had waited in an IU parking lot for the team to arrive. Most of his teammates had gone inside. Turner's mom heard the report on the radio while driving to campus and never forgot it.

The man with the big voice still considers himself one of the luckiest people alive, since he got to be in the profession he loved at a station he respected. He does not miss getting up at 3 a.m. He's keeping company with his wife, Sherry, and he's keeping track of their three standard poodles: Zack, 13, C.J., 3, and seven-month-old Star.

These days, Gillis is deciding what he's going to do with the rest of his life. Don't get the wrong idea: He retired from radio, not from living. Stay tuned for his next move.

Fans can keep in touch with Big John by sending a note to bigjohngillis@sbcglobal.net