In Memoriam: Howard Stanley

Howard Stanley, who was 90 when he died March 20 at his home in Portsmouth, Va., was “the Lonesome Guy.”

Broadcasting live six nights a week from 1949 to 1953, Mr. Stanley — a.k.a. “the Lonesome Guy” — sang love songs and read poetry to listeners of WEAM-AM in Washington.

His seductive baritone voice, with a house pianist or organist and occasionally a violinist accompanying it, lured legions of listeners. The vast majority were female, and they had no doubt that the man they listened to during the lonely, deep-purple hours of their evening was speaking directly to them.