Local children show host, Ramblin Rod died yesterday after a stroke...He was a fixture for children's tv in the Portland/Vancouver (pacific northwest, USA) area for 35 years...in fact I remember when it was a big thing to be on his show...kids going to school bragging they were on it...I remember how the first cartoon he showed was usually a bugs bunny cartoon...but the second was always popeye...I would wait every morning before heading to school for the popeye cartoon...you could time your clock by it...well anyways here's a news article...

Ramblin' Rod Dies of Stroke 05/11/2002

By AP Staff

Ramblin' Rod, the popular host of a Portland children's television show, died Friday after suffering a stroke.

Ramblin' Rod, whose real name was Rod Anders, was 69.

He had appeared on KPTV's morning cartoon show for 33 years before retiring in 1997.

Thousands of Portland parents have videotapes of their children appearing on Anders' show and saying their names into his microphone. He'd typically invite about 40 children, ages 3 to 12, to his show. Between cartoons, he'd pin their buttons on his sweater, promote their clubs and organizations and award prizes for their smiles.

"Rod Anders' show was the last of its kind, an all-local cartoon show," said Bruno Rudolph, promotion manager at KPTV. "He was very beloved here at the station. He was really a show that helped define KPTV for many, many years."

Anders started using the name Ramblin' Rod as a disc jockey on a Hillsboro radio station, where he'd sometimes play his guitar and sing songs on the air. The name stuck after he auditioned for and won a job hosting Channel 12's "Popeye's Pier 12," which evolved into his children's show.

Anders, an avid pilot, was the father of five children, all of whom appeared on his show.

Anders was attending an open house for a new Volunteers of America thrift store in Gresham when he suddenly collapsed, witnesses said.

He was taken to Portland's Adventist Medical Center, where he died.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)