NPR didn’t make the announcement until the second cycle of stories but it was sad news to hear. I didn’t know he was sick, I figured he was still hosting some kind of show on cable.
Besides being the butt of Dan Akroyd jokes, Tom was probably the most famous graduate of Marquette University until Chris Farley joined the cast of SNL. Some would argue Peter Bonerz (Jerry the Dentist on The Bob Newhart Show). His talk show was more my parents’ and grandparents’ speed but I don’t recall them watching it too often because it was on at midnight (Carson was still on for 90 minutes then). He was just the guy David Letterman knocked off the air and a very funny closing joke on an episode of The Larry Sanders Show which did come true once David defected to CBS.
Will Marquette erect anything special to him? Since he didn’t die of a drug overdose (Farley) or alcohol-induced liver failure (Joe McCarthy), I think they should.