Remembering DCRTV Dave – “I don’t know, man…”
December 28, 2021When death hits suddenly, we find it hard to believe. That can’t be any more true as I sit here writing about the man who helped me start this website in 1998. We are seeing word all over the place that DCRTV Dave Hughes died of natural causes sometime in the afternoon of Monday, December 27. He was 63. His last post to DCRTV was at 10:24 that morning, and he also had one last post to YouTube where he seemed to gain much more fame than he did with his radio and TV website.
As I said, Dave graciously helped me start and actually gave “PBRTV” it’s name. So all you people out there who thought it was “Pabst Blue Ribbon….” something, or “Professional Bull Riders…” something or other – Dave’s the one to blame. I wanted to call it “PGHRTV” but Dave wanted consistency with all of the sites he had a hand in producing – most of which didn’t last too long. Eventually Bob Corbin took on the VARTV site and I, of course, maintained PBRTV.
If you ever had a chance to meet Dave as I did, you would quickly find out he was a character. It was on a spring day in 1999 when I found Dave and his mom, Sara, at the Vienna, Virginia METRO stop. We ate lunch at a diner which I believe was called “Amphora” in Reston, before returning his mom to their home on Myrtle Lane. After a stop to use the facilities, Dave drove me around part of the DC market that most tourists likely never see – and why should they? We were touring radio tower sites! As of whatever date that was, (maybe May 18), it was the most outrageous and risky thing I had done – I mean what 22 year old would meet a 40-year-old and his mom at a subway system stop in broad daylight… for lunch… and tour radio tower sites?
But any contact since was limited to email, occasional phone calls and one early “PBRTV Podcast” in 2015. Although DCRTV continued in some manner, it was apparent that Dave became more interested in traveling the country and meeting people under his “Camo Dave” moniker. Dave loved to hike in nature or tour various stores and comment on the items they had for sale. Eventually he left the DC area and showed up in places like Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and eventually settled in North Carolina.
There is no word as to whether any arrangements had been set up for DCRTV to continue, but even if it does, it will never be the same.
As I read through the comments on his Facebook page, final YouTube post, etc., I think it can be agreed upon that Dave touched the hearts of many people and somehow managed to circumvent the ire that exists in this world. I suppose if I would mention it to him, his response would be, “I don’t know, man!”
Peace, Dave.
Pilot episode of PBRTV Podcast – August 14, 2015 – Dave Hughes talks about “cutting the cord”.
