Excerpts from 'Rush saved my life: 40 years of memories from the world’s most devout fans'

Entries from a work in progress

Design by Kim Miers

(To warm up for the Rush 716 Masterclass & Tribute Concert I’m hosting at The Cave in Buffalo, NY, on Thursday August 3, I’m sharing some excerpted chapters from the book I’ve been working on. Here’s the first, featuring former DJ and music director Donna Halper, one of the band’s earliest supporters. More to come!)

Chapter 7:

‘Three incredibly good human beings’

Donna Halper, Historian, Educator, former Music Director at WMMS FM Cleveland

Donna Halper might rightly be considered ground zero in the story of Rush as a force outside of the band members’ hometown. In 1974, Halper, Music Director at the influential rock station WMMS-FM in Cleveland, opened a package from a record promoter in Toronto. This in itself was not unusual. But unlike many of her colleagues at radio stations across the country, Halper decided to not only open the package, but play a track from the album contained therein - the debut album from an independent Canadian trio named Rush.