OT: Man in Cathedral-Sex Radio Stunt Dies

Whistle
1

I can’t help but find this funny.

NEW YORK (Sept. 30) - A man who was to appear in court Tuesday on charges of having sex with his girlfriend inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral as part of a radio show stunt has died at his home in Virginia, his lawyer said.

Brian Florence, 38, died last Thursday of a heart attack in Alexandria, said the couple’s lawyer, Maranda Fritz. She said the funeral was Monday, and his co-defendant and girlfriend, Loretta Lynn Harper, 36, is “still in a state of shock.”

The judge adjourned the case until Nov. 6. Fritz said her clients had expected to plead guilty to a minor charge and not receive any jail time.

A third man involved in the case, radio producer Paul Mercurio, 43, pleaded guilty earlier in the day to disorderly conduct. The judge ordered him to perform seven days of community service.

Authorities said a police officer was listening to the “Opie and Anthony Show” in August 2002 when he heard Mercurio say on the air that he was speaking on a cell phone while watching the couple in the cathedral. The officer arrested Florence and Harper shortly afterward in a vestibule a few feet from worshippers.

The stunt had been part of a regular feature in which couples could win prizes for having sex in public places.

The couple’s alleged antics inside the landmark cathedral resulted in WNEW-FM firing DJs Greg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia.

• source

2

Funny that he died or funny that he’d been caught attempting to do something so crass? Personally, I think both are rather sad. The man must have had serious problems, both physically and emotionally.

Redwolf

3

Which part did you find funny?

4

Maybe it was ironic and a bit amusing that he had the hutspah to have sex in church but appears to have died at the thought of appearing in court?

5

The death is sad, I feel bad for his girlfriend and loved ones. The cathedral act is pretty funny, that is if you appriciate offending people that take themselves too seriously. He was awfully young for a heart attack though…

6

Quote @ Celtoid

Maybe it was ironic and a bit amusing that he had the hutspah to have sex in church but appears to have died at the thought of appearing in court

Yes.

7

That seems like a pretty minor crime to me. Actually I don’t even see how its a crime at all, but what do you expect from a country founded by puritans?
Hell, that’s the best use of a cathedral I’ve heard of in a long time.
Just teasing… :stuck_out_tongue:

8

Do you people seriously find the thought of someone profaning the sacred space of another so amusing? Would it be so funny if, say, one of our soldiers in Iraq were to urinate on the side of a mosque? Or would it be so absolutely hilarious if someone were to grill steaks and fan the smoke over at the local Hindu temple on Diwali?

What these people did (or attempted to do) was highly offensive. It doesn’t, however, detract from the fact that it’s terribly sad that a man is dead at the young age of 38.

Redwolf

9

I am not a prude and I am not a practicing catholic (or anything, for that matter), but I did take exception to this when it happened. It seemed to be indicative of a trend in our society: the increasing consumption of schlock as entertainment. I don’t have a moral or philosophical problem with it, I just don’t think it is funny. By and large, Opie and Anthony (and other hosts of similar shows) cater to the more moronic tendencies, which is no demonstration of talent. Howard Stern was marginally funny at one point but now does schlock by rote. The more alarming fact is the number of people who buy into this “corporate sponsered” subversion: oooh, we’re being so daring!.. Meanwhile, Clear Channel Entertainment rakes in the bucks. It is not OK to say f… or s… on the radio, can’t see any nudity on TV, but it is fine to promote shows that tell our kids: “it is OK to lie about who you are in order to get the girl (or guy)”. Or shows that let you believe it is funny to have a pair of intellectually challenged people screw in a church…

10

I’ll bet he died of a mysterious lighnting strike or something like that.

11

Maybe he died of shame.

12

The aspect of it that’s really just the desecration of a special place to some people is offensive to me as well. Then there’s the part of it that’s just silly and worth a snicker or two. So for me I feel both ways about it.

Maybe this kind of thing reflects how bored people in this country are getting?

13

what is going on?? it won’t let me post my new topic!! it says I need to email the webmaster. ?!

14

…errr…nevermind. :blush: must’ve been a temporary glitch.

15

Now 38 is not young to die from a heart attack. In my rehab class the youngest bypass surgery patient is 29. My daughter’s friend died at 29 of a heart attack. The average age is coming down every year.

Ron

16

As meat consumption and lack of excersize go up.

Go figure.

17

Heart disease is an epidemic in this country. It is the number one cause of death. Probably everyone over 25 should know their cholesterol lvls and ldl/hdl ratio, and serum glucose lvls. I don’t know about this case, but for the majority this is a preventable beast. Heart attacks can be a direct result when a coronary artery is so occluded as to allow some heart tissue to die.
Stay healthy!

18

Y’know, I think this is symptomatic of what we get with mass media in general. People have largely stopped making their own entertainment in the last century or less. How many folks do you know who don’t have the determination to learn to play music for their own entertainment? How many folks do we all know who think it is more work to pick up a whistle (guitar, banjo, bagpipe, ocarina, ukelin, autoharp, etc.) then to put a CD in the stereo? We’ve forgotten how to entertain ourselves in modern society.

The result is that we expect others to do it. We (societally, not indicative of this board, thank goodness) actually think it is work to make music or perform. It is supposed to be play, not work. It is supposed to be a way to spend more time with people we like and love, doing something other than work. Instead, we demand something new because we get bored with the same tasteless gags on the TV and radio. In order to cater to the business of what passes for entertainment nowadays, broadcasters (and print, too) dumb down the level of intelligence needed to get anything out of it, they constantly push the limits of what is acceptable, until they expect us to be titillated by a couple of irreverent gits scrumping in God’s house.

It is my choice not to watch broadcast TV, listen to most radio stations, or to read material I think is a waste of my time. It is also my choice to limit my children’s intake of the mass media to what I pre-approve and sanction. As a result, I have a 3.5 year-old who sings me songs, tells me stories, carries on conversations with me about our respective days, thinks it is fun to help wash dishes, sweep the floors, and pick up toys. Because we do it together.

TV is totally passive. When I learned to play the whistle, it opened up such amazing worlds for me because I realized deep down that I can make my own entertainment. I am not at the mercy of what some corporate dorks think I should be watching and paying money for. The cheap Clarke C and Bill Ochs’ fine tutorial taught me how to break out of a trap that most of our nation still wallows in.

My brother did it by going rock climbing. He owns a TV. It is in a storage unit with most of the junk he collected in 4 years of working in the IT field. He is taking a long (6 months so far) vacation to go climbing, visit friends, see new things, and all of it is done in the camper on the back of his truck. I almost want to build a cabin in the woods and live there with my family. Except during winter.

I think the best thing we can do about this is to continue efforts to show people that entertainment is not supposed to be a passive thing. Teach them to play a tune. Get them to dance once or twice to live music. Just go for a walk with a friendly dog, for goodness’ sake. We’ll live longer and better that way.

-Patrick

19

When I hear of someone that young dying of a heart attack I’m inclined to wonder if cocaine was involved.

20

Whats so shocking about that? My mom did that very same thing when she was fourteen in 1956 when you just didnt do that kind of thing :boggle: ..but she didnt have a heart attack or me (thank goodness). But with a mom like that it no wonder Im screwed up :smiley: