him apart from his peers. (Author John Updike once described him as sounding "like everybody's brother-in-law.") Unlike many well-known sportscasters, Gowdy never developed catchphrases or signature calls, but merely described the action in a straightforward manner. Examples: Retirement Gowdy's career wound down after The American Sportsman was canceled in 1985. He briefly came out of retirement in 1987 to call the New England Patriots on radio, and in 1988 he returned to NBC to call September NFL games with Merlin Olsen and old partner Al DeRogatis, while Olsen's regular partner Dick Enberg was covering the Summer Olympics in Seoul. In May 2003, a few months shy of his 84th birthday, Gowdy called a Red Sox–Yankees game from Fenway Park, as part of the ESPN Major League Baseball "Living Legends" series. At the end of the broadcast, he thought he could have done better. ESPN's Chris Berman said, "We'll give you another chance." Gowdy replied, "Call me back." Gowdy also co-hosted the Drum Corps International Championships on PBS from 1989 to 1993 with Steve Rondinaro. Other appearances Film cameos Gowdy made cameo appearances in the movies The Naked Gun (1988) and Summer Catch (2001), and his voice can be heard in Heaven Can Wait (1978) and BASEketball (1998). Heaven Can Wait (1978) – TV Commentator The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) – The Baseball Announcer #5 An American Summer (1990) – Himself BASEketball (1998) – World Series Announcer (voice) Summer Catch (2001) – Himself Television and radio commercials In the 1950s and '60s, 'Curt Gowdy did pre-recorded and live commercials for Red Sox sponsor Narragansett Beer. His voice speaking the famous line: "Hi Neighbor, have a 'Gansett" was known to Red Sox fans everywhere. In the 1980s, Gowdy voiced a series of beer commercials for Genesee. Essentially, these ads had an outdoor enthusiast theme, with Curt's tag line being "Genesee – the great outdoors in a glass." Author Gowdy, who also did some sportswriting during his early broadcasting days, wrote two books: Cowboy at the Mike (1966), with Al Hirshberg, and Seasons to Remember: The Way It Was in American Sports, 1945–1960 (1993), with John Powers. He also wrote the foreword for the 2000 book The Golden Boy, authored by Dr. George I. Martin, in which Gowdy described the subject of the book, Jackie Jensen, as possibly the best athlete he had ever covered. Radio stations In