What a week. Jeff Beck. David Crosby. And now Lin. It’s the last of those that brings me closest to tears.

I can’t describe myself as a long-time WXRT listener. Back in the day (whatever that means) I spent more time with Steve Dahl and Garry Meier on the Loop and was an early disciple of the Stroud Crowd on the Drive. But in recent years whether listening to my office boom box or streaming at home, if I wanted music with a local source, it was WXRT for Chicago’s Finest Rock. And if it was “XRT it was most likely Lin Brehmer.

Lin played the same music as the other WXRT jocks, but his personality outshined all the others. Never one for understatement, any song he liked was the greatest song ever written. And of course, he was everyone’s best friend in the whole world. Who wouldn’t want to be best friends with a Chicago legend?

For a year or two my schedule at the lab revolved around Lin. No matter what I had scheduled, or what unscheduled fires I needed to extinguish, I was sure to be in my office listening to that old radio at 6:20 in the morning for Lin and Mary Dixon to play the three snippets of songs that comprised that day’s 3 for Free contest. My only reward for the dozen times I was the first to Tweet in the right answer was having Lin say my name on the air. It was lagniappe enough.

We exchanged direct messages over a few topics. Lin took issue with an email from ‘XRT program director Laura Duncan to new jock Annalisa that I “discovered.” But at the end of our back and forth, even Lin had to admit that the station played a limited number of prescribed tunes from artists such as the Cure and The Grateful Dead. And we disagreed over a particular song by the band Guster, with the band members themselves becoming involved in our Twitter conversation. At this sad time, I concede that battle to Lin.

Lin lost his life to prostate cancer. Regular readers of this blog know of my involvement personally, professionally, and philanthropically in the fight against prostate cancer. Men of a certain age, please get screened for this potential killer, whether by PSA or one of the myriad of other tests now available. None are perfect, all are better than doing nothing,

On Lin’s Bin, our superjock gave tongue-in-cheek responses to questions submitted by listeners. Disappointingly, Lin never answered any of the questions I submitted. Lin, I have one more question for you.

Are angels your best friends in the world now?