Not Just Another DJ Without Records

I never met David Brudnoy personally, but his figure loomed big in my former radio career. I was the late night executive producer at WRKO in Boston, and David was Boston's late night radio king. Every host I worked with in that time slot, and every program director I worked for, understood one thing: The best we're ever going to do is number 2 in the market. David owned the nights in Boston radio. And I never really minded that, because he was just so goddamn good at it. He was one of the last of a breed of talk hosts that actually TALKED to people, rather than proseletyze or preach or yell or curse them out (unlike some of the folks that I've worked with, quite frankly). The listening audience became a community, rather than a bloodthirsty mob, when he was on the air. He was interesting and interested at the same time, and more than once, I heard him start to reconsider his opinion (although he was VERY opinionated) due to a caller or one of his guests giving him a different perspective on an issue.

Ten years ago, David revealed that he had contracted AIDS, and was near death, but he fought back and reclaimed his radio crown. Last year, he almost died again due to cancer, but fought back and survived. Now, his cancer is back, and he's given up fighting and is preparing to leave this world. Last night, WBZ presented what they called his final broadcast, which was a prerecorded interview from his hospital bed at Mass. General. He says he could be days or hours away, and he's ready for it.

I'm not sure the rest of us are.