Columbus Dispatch: "The smooth baritone of Ted Williams became an Internet sensation yesterday when a Dispatch.com video compelled millions of viewers to take a closer look (and listen) at a homeless panhandler who sometimes works the Hudson Street ramp off northbound I-71.
Carrying a hand-scrawled cardboard sign touting his 'God-given gift of voice,' an otherwise ragged Williams was recorded last month offering up his radiant pipes to an idle commuter for spare change. ...
'My boss said to me: 'If you don't get him hired, you're fired,'' said Kevin McLoughlin, director of post-production films for the National Football League. ...
Shane Cormier, a Los Angeles agency owner whose clients have done voice-over work for Ford, Sprint and Western Union [said] 'We could make him a millionaire' ...
And a $10,000 offer for voice-over work for the Ohio Credit Union League will be presented this morning ...
Cleveland Plain dealer: "The Cavaliers and Quicken Loans were so taken with the story of Ted Williams, the homeless man from Columbus with the golden voice, that they have offered him an unspecified job with the team and assistance with housing."
Update: CBS News: "He said that he was headed back to Brooklyn, N.Y. - where he grew up - Wednesday for a reunion with his 92-year-old mother. 'I'm getting a little emotional. I haven't seen my mom in a great deal of time. She doesn't believe it,' he said. 'One of my biggest prayers that I sent out was that she would live long enough for me to see me rebound or whatever, and I guess God kept her around and kept my pipes around to maybe just have one more shot that I would be able to say, 'Mom, I did do it.'"
Later update:The Washington Post's Alexandra Petri suggests Williams' "amazing, golden radio voice" makes him a perfect replacement for outgoing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
TSA not so fast update:New York Daily News: Williams "had expected to fly to New York to do a live interview on the "Today Show" tomorrow morning and see his 92-year-old mom ...
But TMZ reported that airport officials will not let him board a plane because he doesn't have proper identification to make the trip. Instead, he spent the afternoon at a Columbus, Ohio, courthouse trying to obtain a copy of his birth certificate."
Eric says: Five days in, I proclaim the homeless man with the radio voice to be the feel-good story of 2011.
