There's a line in the bible that I'm reminded of every time I take the platform to speak, be it a paid speaking engagement or a Lector assignment at Sunday Mass: "The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak ..."

What an interesting piece of guidance from what I like to affectionately refer to as the "manufacturer's handbook." Many great speakers have influenced me over the years from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy to humble radio announcers. One such influencer was Gene McKay, a radio broadcaster who recently said goodbye to an appreciative community after peddling his verbiage in the midlands of South Carolina for some over four decades.

My first recollection of Gene McKay was in 1970 when I was on my way to work and listening to WIS Radio in Columbia, SC. McKay was the morning man for the "Wonderful Iodine State" station. I recall it so vividly because McKay, whose real name was Gene Klemick, was describing with tears a movie he had watched the previous night, "Love Story," starring Ryan O'Neal as Oliver Barrett, IV and Ali McGraw as Jennifer Cavalleri. "If you didn't cry during that movie, you weren't paying attention," quipped McKay.

Gene McKay was an influencer on so many levels, not just the radio. He was not just a broadcaster, but also a pretty fair speaker himself as well as a top notch Master of Ceremonies. My path crossed his many times over the years; usually he was the Master of Ceremonies and I was the speaker. He once told me that he had heard my speech so many times that he could have given it himself.

McKay had a wry kind of humor that was both self-effacing and tongue in cheek, evidenced by the fun he used to poke at his fellow members of the Irmo community, labeling them the "Ancient Irmese." He coined the term "Okra Strut," the name for the annual festival held in Irmo.

McKay and his old friend Coach Frank McGuire both came to my rescue in 1972. I had just been elected Grand Knight (the Presiding officer) of the Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic men's fraternal organization in Columbia. One of the projects we decided to tackle was to raise money to help improve a Catholic chapel at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The event we sponsored raised several thousand dollars for the Newman Center, which helps Catholic students. McKay and McGuire both refused payment for their services. That was typical of both men.

McKay also served as a Master of Ceremonies later that same year when the Knights of Columbus completed the construction of Christopher Towers, a 16-story high rise housing project we sponsored for the moderate income ambulatory elderly in the Five Points area of Columbia. Again, McKay refused payment for his services.

It was so typical of his generosity and kindness. One could make the argument that he used these opportunities to build a bigger listening audience. I don't believe that for a moment. I believe he did it because he cared deeply for a community he loved so dearly. Whether he was announcing basketball games courtside at the University of South Carolina or introducing a platform full of dignitaries, McKay was at his best when is went to his bag of humor to grease the wheel.

The late, great Bill Gove, CSP, CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame, one of America's top keynote speakers for some four decades, once remarked, "You don't have to use humor in a speech… unless you want to get paid." McKay understood that and found a way to make every day a little more pleasant for the world around him, always on the wings of humor.

Yes, the Lord indeed blessed him with a well-trained tongue, which he used so well. Would that we all use our talents that we have been blessed with so admirably.