Live to Tell | Mel's Story

Thanks to the expertise at Mary Greeley, radio personality Mel Crippen keeps talking, with a tireless sense of humor and an attitude that always leans positive.

Mel Crippen will not be silenced.

The misadventures of his hardscrabble youth—and there were many—couldn’t do it. Getting stabbed in a biker bar he owned couldn’t do it. The ups and downs of the broadcast industry, which employed him for nearly 60 years, couldn’t do it. Serious health scares—and there have been many—couldn’t do it.

From layoffs to heart attacks, life has thrown a lot at this longtime central Iowa radio personality. The fact that Mel lived to tell about it (and he would be happy to tell you about it) demonstrates the power of a positive attitude, an indefatigable sense of humor, and having Mary Greeley in your corner.

Shout out also goes to the team of McFarland Clinic physicians who have gotten to know Mel over the years. Mel has been treated by a range of physicians at Mary Greeley and McFarland; he jokes that “I have my own staff.”

“That’s what keeps you going,” he says. “Being positive and having faith in the hospital staff. We have an excellent facility here and I can’t say enough about how I feel about it. I feel a closeness to this staff. They’ve treated me so well.”

Early Years

A high school counselor once suggested to his parents that Mel consider a career as a truck driver because you didn’t need much education for a job like that. Mel’s dad punched the counselor in the nose. Mel’s dad was a truck driver.

His parents ultimately divorced, and Mel and his three brothers grew up with scant resources, raised by a devoted mom who juggled multiple jobs (she loaded box cars at one point), and taught her sons to be gentlemen.

He once took a $100 bet that he wouldn’t have the guts to train hop from Des Moines to California. He won the bet.

For several years he supported himself by performing in coffee houses along a Denver-Chicago route. He played guitar and banjo and did a little standup.

He also owned a popular bar in Des Moines’ Drake University neighborhood. After being stabbed by a patron, “I started to rethink what I was doing with my life?” He opted to sell the bar and move to Ames with his wife and kids, and go back to school. He was 27 at the time and planned to get a teaching degree.

On the Air

WOI-TV was still on the Iowa State University campus and the station needed a booth announcer. Mel applied and interviewed but was told he didn’t have the presence or the voice for the gig. But they did need someone to cue up videotape. He took the job and eventually climbed the ranks to production specialist and director. He also worked Iowa State football games when WOI started televising them.

That teaching degree plan fell by the wayside.

When ESPN needed someone to produce an Iowa State-Nebraska football game, the network was connected with Mel. That resulted in a longstanding freelance relationship with the sports network giant.

The guy who was told he didn’t have an announcer’s voice also ended up doing commercial voiceovers for WOI. All that ended, however, when Iowa State sold the station in 1994 and Mel got laid off. He was interviewed about the layoff, and he sensed the reporter was expecting him to be angry.

“So, I told him I was mad because I was the last one to get laid off that day and by the time it happened, there were no boxes left for me to pack my things in,” he says.

His comment made the newspaper and at the next game he worked for ESPN, someone piled up some boxes with a sign that read, “Reserved for Mel.”

Not long after his WOI career ended, he saw an ad for a morning radio announcer with KASI, then a locally owned Ames radio station. He’d never done radio before.

“I had another job offer to be general manager of a station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but who the hell wants to live in South Dakota?” he says. “My objective was to stay in Ames because I love this place, and I wanted to serve the community.”

He got the job, originally doing DJ work and then taking on a drive-time talk show when the station switched to talk radio. When asked what he wanted to name the show, he says, “Well, it’s me in the morning so how about Mel in the Morning?”

The name stuck, and except for a brief “retirement,” he was on KASI for 36 years, before ultimately facing another layoff by the station’s now corporate owners.

Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Attacks

Mel wasn’t sure about Mary Greeley when he first came to Ames.

“I thought it was an unappealing brick building that looked haunted,” he says. “To see what has happened since then is amazing. It has transformed into a first-class medical facility. I’d recommend it to anyone.”

Mel knows of what he speaks. Outside of obstetrics and a handful of other departments, Mel has experienced just about every service available at Mary Greeley.

A decade ago, he was umpiring a state softball tournament and got hit in the head by a line drive, which broke his jaw in three places. Off he went to Mary Greeley’s Emergency Department, where blood tests indicated he had Type 2 diabetes. He’s been on insulin ever since and has been able to manage his diabetes with help from Mary Greeley’s Diabetes and Nutrition Education Center.

“They’ve been a great help,” he says. “They’ve given me recommendations about my diet and exercise and provided me easier ways to track my blood sugar levels.”

At a regular checkup about five years ago, Mel told his doctor that he felt something was off because of blood in his urine. He was referred to Dr. Garrett Korrect, a McFarland Clinic urologist. A cystoscopy, which involves the insertion of a thin camera into the urethra, led to a diagnosis of bladder cancer and, no surprise, an opportunity for a joke or two from Mel.

“Garrett Korrect is a great doctor,” Mel says. “He told me, ‘I’m going to stick a camera down your penis,’ and I asked, “A Brownie or a Kodak?’”

Dr. Korrect performed surgery on Mel, who then went through radiation treatment.

“Mel and I have been through a lot together medically,” says Dr. Korrect. “Despite all he's been through he is always interested in how my day is going and how my family is doing, and generally seems to put the focus of his concern on the people around him rather than himself. His ability to continue to be so pleasant, humorous, and positive despite undergoing major surgery, numerous procedures, treatments, and the occasional setback has undoubtedly helped him ride the ups and downs of cancer treatment in a way many cannot. While we provide the best possible care regardless, his attitude and kindness definitely makes it very easy for our team to rally around him.”

He was also referred to Dr. Joseph Merchant, a McFarland Clinic oncologist with the William R. Bliss Cancer Center. Dr. Merchant has a strong reputation as an oncologist and as a serious person.

“Joe Merchant is a hell of a guy, and a serious guy,” says Mel. “A little more serious than me, and he once told me ‘You’ve got a great sense of humor, and I don’t think I do. I want to be better at it though.’ I told him I could probably help him, and he’s lightened up a lot.”

Mel “has been a delight to have as a patient,” says Dr. Merchant. “He has a rich fund of anecdotes from his years in radio broadcasting, and he has a way of engaging you with humor and kindness even during serious health care discussions. You can understand why he is such an effective communicator on the radio by spending any time with him. He is gracious in expressing gratitude for our efforts on his behalf even when no easy or simple solutions are available. Mel keeps it light even when the topic is kind of dark.”

A few months after his bladder cancer diagnosis, Mel was having urinary problems again and this time he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Instead of radiation, he did several weeks of chemotherapy.

“I’m in remission now,” he says. “The key to the whole thing was early diagnosis. All my cancers were caught very early.”

The Bliss Cancer Center is “first class,” he adds.

“What really has worked for me is the doctor-patient relationship,” he says. “They’ve all developed that with me. It’s that kind of faith you have in those guys and what they’ve done for me. They are succinct and caring. They don’t make promises. They tell me like it is, but always revert to hope, saying ‘I think we can get this.’”

And then came the heart attacks, which he didn’t even know he had had. Two years ago, he was sitting in his chair at home and using the TV remote, when his left arm just “went to sleep.”

He ended up in Mary Greeley’s Emergency Department, where it was determined he’d suffered a minor stroke. Further examination indicated that he had also recently experienced two heart attacks.

He’s now on medications and seeing Dr. Jason Rasmussen, a McFarland Clinic cardiologist with the Mary Greeley Cardiology Clinic, for checkups every six months.

Mel “is a great example of someone living a full life with heart disease. While many diseases of the heart currently have no cure, the treatments have come a long way and can allow an excellent quality of life for patients living with disease.” says Dr. Rasmussen. “I know when I see him I will be entertained and probably will learn something myself. A sense of humor can be a healthy way to cope with serious illness, and a positive attitude can be powerful.”

After another episode of blood in his urine, and another visit to the Mary Greeley Emergency Department, he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Under the guidance of Dr. John Hardie, a McFarland Clinic radiation oncologist with the Bliss Cancer Center, he is now going through radiation and immunotherapy treatment.

Back at the Mic

Having faced a smorgasbord of serious health issues, does Mel think about the end?

“Death is part of life, but I don’t think about it,” he says. “It seems detrimental.”

So, Mel keeps ticking and talking. He recently returned to the airwaves, doing a periodic morning show on KHOI, the community radio station in Ames. (That’s 89.1 on your FM dial.)

That’s not all that’s keeping him busy. At a high school reunion, a woman Mel once had a crush on came up to him and asked if she could talk to him for a minute.

Mel replied: “Well, you never did in high school, but sure.”

She wanted to know if all the stories she’d heard about him were true. He assured her they were, and then she urged him to write a memoir. And now he’s hard at work writing his life story. Let’s hope there’s an audio version. ■