R. Edward "Bob" Lopez (1953 – May 22, 2005) was a newsman and morning radio personality on Baltimore's 98Rock. Joining the station in 1978, Lopez participated in 13 morning radio shows during his 27 years at the station. He was known for his sense of humor and liberal political views. In the late 1980s, he co-hosted with

Bob Rivers Robert Rivers (born July 7, 1956 in Branford, Connecticut) is a retired American rock and roll radio on-air personality in the Pacific Northwest, as well as a prolific producer and songwriter of parody songs, most famous for his Christmas son ...

. For the last part of his career, he was part of the "Kirk, Mark & Lopez" or "KML" morning show, along with Kirk McEwen and

Mark Ondayko Michael "Mark" "Mike" Ondayko (born 1963) is an American radio broadcaster probably most remembered for his role at WIYY Baltimore (98Rock) where Mike/Mark Ondayko was co-host Kirk, Mark and Lopez (later Kirk, Mark and Spiegel) morning show. While ...

, with whom he worked for seven years. He also hosted the Sunday Lopez, a Sunday morning talk show where he discussed politics and listeners called in to express their views. The Sunday Lopez was preceded by the longer-running The Spanish Inquisition, in the same time slot with the same format. Lopez held the national record for longest tenure for a news man at a rock station. Lopez grew up in

Prince George's County, Maryland ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobroo ...

, and attended the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, getting his first on-air experience at the campus radio station,

WMUC-FM WMUC-FM (90.5 MHz FM) is the student-run non-commercial radio station licensed to the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, broadcasting at 30 watts. It is a freeform radio station staffed entirely by UMD students and voluntee ...

. He later worked at WLMD, a small AM station in

Laurel, Maryland Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. While the city limits are entirely in northern Prince George's County, outlying developments extend into Anne Arunde ...

, earning $2.25 an hour, before moving to Baltimore in 1977 and joining 98Rock in 1978. Lopez was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

in February 2004, having been a smoker for several decades, starting at age 12. He continued to participate in the Kirk, Mark & Lopez radio show while undergoing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

and

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...

. During his treatment, Lopez and his co-hosts made his cancer a frequent source of humor on air, remarking that his hair loss made him look like

Uncle Fester Uncle Fester is a member of the fictional Addams Family. He was played by Jackie Coogan in the original television series, by Christopher Lloyd in the two feature films, by Nick Kroll in the 2019 and 2021 animated features, by Fred Armisen in t ...

. After a long and public battle with the disease, Lopez died at the age of 52. He was survived by his wife of 21 years (Jean, referred to on air as "Trixie"), and his 13-year-old daughter, Leandra.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, R. Edward Radio personalities from Baltimore University of Maryland, College Park alumni 1953 births 2005 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Maryland