User:Jedgould

AKA Jed the Fish, born in Los Angeles on July 15, 1955, nearly 70 years ago, Edwin Jed Fish Gould III was raised in Newport Beach, California and Laguna Beach, California. Fond of fireworks and raising hell on film, his 8mm works were lost in a move to Arizona in 1969, where his mother Joan settled in Casa Grande with her third husband, Virgil. An outcast in Laguna Beach, he felt instantly cool for the first time in Central Arizona, simply because he was considered “from L.A.,” which he actually was not. Because his 8mm library was discarded along with his monster magazines, he had no means to apply at U.S.C. Cinema School, as it was known at the time.

His father, Edwin Jr., put him through U.S.C., but it was thought best he enroll in U.S.C. Journalism School, as it was known at the time, so he would have something to “fall back on.” Following university he applied for work in radio, but because of what was known at the time as affirmative action, despite being told he and his colleagues were the best candidates for each of the jobs at the time, he and his friends were all refused for being “not female nor Mexican.” As it turns out, KROQ FM had no such hiring guidelines, and because Jed was willing to work for nothing (for 90 days) became a full time announcer there.

It was July 25, 1978. The Rolling Stones had just performed the previous day in Anaheim Stadium, and the phone rang at 1:20 am. General Manager Darrell Wayne and then-owner Gary Bookasta wanted to know if Jed could arrive in Pasadena by 2:00 am. He said he would try. That night became Jed's first KROQ airshift. Because Jed was vascillating between calling himself “The Fish,” or “Jed,” Gary’s music director soon suggested that he assume the name Jed The Fish. Trepedacious, he reluctantly agreed to a trial period as such. The trial period lasted nearly 35 years.