Jane and Daryl Ilbury's special tribute to JvB

Jane Linley-Thomas (Archive)

As a 6-year-old child I used to listen to East Coast Radio on the way to school every morning and hearing JVB and former Breakfast Show host Daryl Ilbury, I can remember the seed of intention silently being sown. I was so taken by the connection, imagination play and immediacy of radio and loved hearing the joy and banter. When I got my foot in the door in 2004 you can imagine the surreal moment of meeting my creative gate keepers. I worked with Johann von Bargen every morning for a year while hosting the weekday breakfast show - and from the first day I met him it was a laugh a minute. He would arrive each and every morning fresh, chipper, armed with jokes and a cappuccino. I also loved waiting to see what t shirt he would rock up in at 5:30am. My best was a shirt he had of a cartoon dog painting a wall. I loved sitting and hearing JvB tell me story after story of his life, his insight, and of course how to keep safe on the road. I smile fondly thinking of the time we used to do corporate team building activities together and would see us each arriving with a car full of hula hoops, orange road cones and balls. Our friendship from day one was one that regardless of time would always remain the same and I would grin when I got an SMS joke out of the blue. I will always remember the way his eyes smiled and crinkled in the corner, how he used to shake his wrist to move his gold bracelet when telling a story. Even seeing him last month in a fragile and unwell state, I sat on the floor next to his chair and his attitude was still there, upbeat, brave and in survival mode. Thank you for the time JVB, fly high, love always…
Janey x Jane's page on ECR