T.G.I.F.

It is Friday, the day before the weekend. Many people are anticipating kicking back and enjoying some downtime. I got to wondering who coined this phrase that lots of us say with a big sigh of relief on this day of the week. Here’s what I found.

An Akron, Ohio disc jockey, Jerry Healey, who worked at station WAKR in the late 60s and 70s, very likely came up with this favorite sentiment for a Friday. He also brought American standards music to over 200 markets in a syndicated radio program. Markets, in this sense, refer to specific areas of commercial broadcasting, for instance, the New York City, NY and Los Angeles, CA areas are considered major markets—high-profile radio and television stations.

Mr. Healey was a sportscaster too. In basketball, he was the voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Buffalo Braves. In football, he announced for the University of Illinois, Ohio State, the University of Akron, Kent State University, and UC Davis.

Jerry Healey was a very clever guy, creating "Golf with Sam Snead" which aired on the ABC and NBC networks in the 1960s. He patented a golf game, “Quickie Golf,” which is similar to target golf and created an interactive TV show concept (viewer input changes the content of the show) years before anyone else thought of it. It was about bowling, “Frame Game.” His idea made it to the pilot stage.

Sadly, Jerry passed away on February 3, 2009. I hope he’s still smiling when he hears one of us gleefully shouting Thank God It’s Friday.

Read more about Jerry Healey and take a look at the blog that inspired me.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Writing!