Daniel replies:

Jean Shepherd was a great monologist, and one of the few radio geniuses ever to exist.  I suppose I sound a little like him...similar regional accent and quality of voice...so the idea got around that it was me doing the narration for the movie.  It was not me.  It was Shep.  He was not ""one of the writers.""  The movie is based entirely on stories he improvised for his late night New York City radio program that went on for years.  It was carried by one of those old AM stations with a powerful signal that went everywhere, especially at night, and especially in summer--thus Shepherd was the only source of hipness reaching into the vast dark interior during a distinctly un-hip period.  I remember picking up the program in Maine, and in North Carolina.  If you search around the internet you can find transcriptions of some of his shows.