Fred Goldrup of Lewiston, Maine was born progressively deaf. Presently he has only 15% normal hearing in his left ear, and is totally deaf in the right. As a child, he was teased for the speech impairment, that was caused by his hearing loss. As a young adult, unable to hear his own voice, he used a tape recorder to teach himself to speak more clearly. He persevered, finally overcoming the impairment which threatened to prevent him from doing the one thing he really wanted to do. "Ever since I was a kid," Fred once told a reporter from The Lewiston Sun/Journal, "I always wanted to be on radio".

And so, by a combination of destiny and determination (and maybe a little luck) his dream came true when he was asked to do a one-hour show on Saturday mornings at a local radio station, WRXV. "I started my first show by playing Diane by Slim Whitman for my mom." Halfway through the broadcast, the phone lines lit up and the response was so great, Fred ended up with the entire Saturday morning – and then Sunday afternoons as well! The fact that Fred chose Slim Whitman for his first spin is somewhat indicative of his eclectic taste in music. He earned the nickname "The Collector"due, in part, to his extensive collection of records – from cylinders to CD’s, which occupies an entire room in his home. He describes the collection as "60% country, 20% Hawaiian, 10% humor, talking and off-beat, and the other 10% nostalgia."

But music isn’t Fred’s only love. He is also known as a real clown. And the clown has a name: Taurus. Now some clowns are in it just for the money, but not Fred. No, this clown (an Emmett Kelley look-alike) has a cause. He used the proceeds from clowning around to pay for two stars in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s "Walkway of the Stars" in Nashville. One star was for Vernon Dalhart, who recorded the first million-selling hit in country music, The Prisoner’s Song. The second star was for Dalhart's partner, Carson J. Robison, who wrote tunes like Down in the Little Green Valley and Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie. These two country music legends never had a more devoted fan than Fred Goldrup and the seniors and children who enjoyed the magical antics of Taurus the Clown were happy to donate to the cause.

That was all back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Today, Fred is into cooking (he was personally selected by Kate Smith to be the cooking editor of her "Friends" journals), backpacking and – we suspect – still a little clowning around. Evidence of that is written on the front of a green fedora he wears while hiking through Maine’s woods and alone" and when people mention the word, and they don't realize the significance, I evoke a sort of askew-grin from them by saying, "Oh, that's my name – I am rather backwards." Fred is quick to send those who do not appreciate his sense of humor, on their way while bidding a hasty retreat in the opposite direction. And what about those of us who do appreciate his humor" Well, we’re the same ones that would love to get a look at his Slim Whitman collection.

Thanks, Fred, for letting us tell your inspirational story.

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