For two years in the 1970s my full-time job was hosting a 4-5 hour overnight radio talk show.  The radio station ownership was quite nervous about someone challenging their license renewal, so the talk show provided them with lots of public service time ammunition should the license ever be challenged (there were challenges filed but none were successful).

Hosting a daily talk show for a living is hard, very hard.  Only those of us that have actually done it can understand how much work it is.

My approach to hosting the old Night Action talk show was to have interesting guests when possible (it wasn’t always easy to book guests when the show starts at 11pm) and to allow everyone’s political views to be given a fair amount of time.  I offered my opinions, but never shouted down or shut down people disagreeing with me.

A former listener to Night Action found me on the Internet several years ago.  He listened while in high school.  He wrote to me that my radio talk show exposed his mind to political points of view he had never considered before, and credited the way I ran the show for providing those perspectives. Night Action aired more than 50 years ago.  You never know what impression you leave on people.

Even after my stint on Night Action was over, I still hosted daily talk programs for six more years, in addition to other duties.  I always kept the same approach about welcoming all views.

Why do I write all this?  Because there is a talk show guy that I rarely agree with.  Rush Limbaugh invented the conservative talk show that could also be entertaining.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had on the books something called the “Fairness Doctrine” that required anyone with a radio or TV license to provide time for all political views, not just one.

As broadcasting was deregulated in the 1980s, broadcast licensees were no longer required to adhere to that Fairness Doctrine and had the right to take whatever political positions they wanted, without caring about other views.

This is what allowed talk shows like Limbaugh’s to boomerang into successful radio.  Just providing one side of political issues resonated with enough radio listeners to make it profitable.

Many have been very critical of what Limbaugh and those that later followed him have brought us.  The political radio talk often isn’t about what is and is not good public policy, but what will enrage the proper number of listeners to make money.

I have listened to Limbaugh on occasion – not a lot, but some.  He is a consummate professional radio guy.  He knows how to communicate with a radio audience and does it well.

I would never do a talk radio show like Limbaugh’s but I cannot argue with success, and Rush is successful.  The total radio audience, although less compared to what it once was, is still big, and even if you can just get a decent slice of that audience, you can be successful, just like Limbaugh.

For the record, I do not agree with Rush Limbaugh much.  I think the argument that radio talk shows, such as his, have not been good for the body politic in America, has some merit.

But the purpose of this commentary is not to point out our disagreements, because I am praying for Rush Limbaugh.  He announced on his radio program February 3rd that he is suffering from “advanced stage lung cancer” and will be away from the microphone while undergoing treatment.

I watched my father suffer from lung cancer that led to his death 26 years ago.  I was with him many times as he was treated for the disease.  My dad was a fighter and fought that disease as long as he could.  Watching someone battle lung cancer is an ugly thing to do.

So, Rush Limbaugh, I often disagree with your politics but credit you with finding a radio persona that has been successful.  As one former radio talk person to another, you will be in my prayers as you fight this awful disease.  I wish you well.

Then you can recover, get back on the airwaves, and we can disagree once again.