Please forgive me but I thought those that used to listen to AM talk radio in the SF Area when is was good (back in the last century) would find this of interest.
Sorry.....Gene was a true gentleman and there were times I disagreed at times but never believed he was "wrong" just mis-lead.
(05-26) 12:00 PDT -- Gene Burns, a veteran KGO talk show host whose generosity and wit evoked comparisons to Santa Claus, died Saturday at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He was 72.
Mr. Burns had suffered a series of strokes in recent years, including one just a few days ago, acquaintances said.
Mr. Burns' career as a talk show host and broadcaster included stops in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Orlando before he came to San Francisco's KGO in 1995. Bay Area listeners perhaps knew him best from his eponymous weeknight program on politics and social commentary - "the issues of the day" as Burns called it - or his Saturday "Dining Around with Gene Burns" show focused on Bay Area wine and food in what Burns called the "epicenter of American gastronomy."
Colleagues recalled an intellectual powerhouse with a tremendous wit and grasp of the English language who, nevertheless, was painstakingly respectful to whomever he encountered.
"If someone was homeless, he would treat them with the same amount of respect as he would the president of the United States," said Pat Thurston, a KGO show host and friend of Mr. Burns.
"You'd think a man like that would be intimidating," Thurston said. "He was never intimidating. He was kind of like Santa Claus. He didn't look anything like Santa Claus, but he had that voice, and that wit, and he was generous to a fault."
Mr. Burns "was always donating his time and really sharing," said Joel Riddell, a close friend who viewed Mr. Burns as a mentor and, with his partner Robert Moon, cared for him as his health flagged.
"He was a really wonderful human being," Riddell said.
Mr. Burns also possessed a renowned libertarian streak, and he ran for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination in 1984 before withdrawing before the nominating convention.
Born on Dec. 3, 1940, he was raised in Hornell, N.Y., in a family of six children. He began his career in radio in 1962 at WWHG in his hometown, the start of a broadcast career that would last five decades.
In 2002, "Talkers Magazine" ranked Burns No. 24 on its list of "The 25 Greatest Radio Talk Show Hosts of All Time."
Burns was laid off from KGO in late 2011 along with three other prominent talk show hosts when the station changed formats to focus more on news.
He was scooped up by KKSF (910 AM) in January 2012 but never made it on the air for that station after suffering a stroke and being placed in a board and care facility.
He is survived by his sister Margaret Burns; sister Roberta Riggsbee and her husband, Ferris Riggsbee; brother David Burns; and brother Dennis Burns and his wife, Mary Sue Burns, all of Orlando. He is preceded in death by his brother, Tom Burns.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/L ... z2UQmXt3Lk
