Beloved WJON Guest, Known as “Dr. Knowledge” To Many, Has Passed Away

LONG-TIME JOURNALIST, BROADCASTER, AND AUTHOR PASSES AWAY

What was scheduled many, many years ago as a one-time stand-alone interview on "It Matters with Kelly Cordes" with author and journalist Charles Reichblum, (known to me at the time as simply Dr. Knowledge), turned into years and years of conversations every Monday morning from 11:15 to 11:30 am.  His book "The All-Time Book of Fascinating Facts" was a conversation starter; a book that could bring a quiet room of awkward silence, to a room filled with laughter, excitement, and even more questions from every generation. For my listeners, it was an escape from the daily grind, that put a smile on their faces every time they listened to his stories.

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AUDREY AND CHARLES

I've tried to go back in time and figure out when the first airing of Charles's interview was, but my Outlook Calendar only goes back to January of 2020. I'm sure he was on with me way before Covid was even a thing, and I feel like we had that unique connection; I wanted to listen, and he wanted to share.

Charles and Audrey made a great team. Every Sunday, Audrey would send me a list of questions that had stories behind them in the book.   Charles called me religiously on-time each and every week, and always joined me with such a pleasant demeanor, that you couldn't help but be mesmerized by his voice and truthful storytelling ability.

For fifteen minutes each week, my listeners and I forgot about all of our problems; and instead learned a little bit of history about the world around us, and Charles opened our minds to questions we may have never asked before.

Audrey made a call to the radio station and I spoke with her briefly about Charles's passing. It was good to hear that Charles enjoyed his time with us here in central Minnesota, as much as we did with the time he dedicated to us each and every week I asked of him.

I can tell you that there's not only a hole in my weekly calendar where Dr. Knowledge owned a piece of time on "It Matters with Kelly Cordes." There is also an aching in my heart; an empty space where a kind and gentle human being made me feel like the world was okay and everything would be alright.

WE WILL SAY GOODBYE

On Monday, November 6th, I will play a re-run of one of Dr. Knowledge's programs in honor of the wonderful, interesting man, and the crazy facts that we may have otherwise not have ever known.  We will say cheers to Charles, and goodbye to a man who became a friend that I could confide in every single week.

If you would like to send condolences to his family and tell your own stories of how Charles has touched your life, you can view his obituary and find a way to contact the family by clicking HERE.

Charles passed away quickly and peacefully from my understanding, at the beautiful age of 95. He will be missed. If you never got around to ordering his book, I'm sure he would love it if you took the opportunity to do so. You can find it on

Amazon, or at knowledgeinanutshell.com.

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