Those of you that have been chiding me because I haven't updated the status of Gene Burns need to know I'm as frustrated as you are, but a few issues to consider...
Burns has been recovering from a most recent serious health problem. In the respect of medical privacy, I'm not going to spell out the exact issue, but it was enough to keep him from debuting on his new radio show. I actually reported the illness, (only to remove it because according to Burn's adviser, it wasn't correct--in fact, it was correct, but that's not the issue nor the point here).
Over the past three years, Burns has suffered a series of medical problems--few people expected him to recover and return to the Bay Area radio waves. Right before the KGO format change, Burns seemed to be back to his former, lucid self and and his speech pattern and stamina sounded robust and Gene sounded like the old Gene. After the events took place at 900 Front, he suffered another major issue, (Two things: I'm not suggesting in any way that KGO is responsible for Burns' latest ailment; secondly, out of respect to Burns, I'm not going to report what his ailment consisted of--there's plenty of speculation already out there).
I hope that what I have heard is right. Burns latest recovery is going smoothly. He's been out of the hospital over a month and, word is, seems to be getting better by the day.
By the same token, there are those who insist that he will never make it back to the radio. I hope they're wrong. I know there's a great deal of people out there who care about Gene Burns and have missed him.
Quite frankly, this is a tough situation for everyone involved; Mr. Burns himself, his friends and family, and yes, you folks, his loyal fans and listeners.
At this point, again, he's doing well and making steady progress. To the extent that he'll be back soon, nobody knows--well, a few do, but choose to keep quiet and that's understandable. The moment I get word from Mr. Burns' rep, I will pass it on to all of you as soon as possible.
And yes, of course, I'll pass along all best wishes to Gene. Have at it.
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Hi Rich,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update and your utmost respect for Mr. Burns' privacy.
IMHO, Mr. Burns is an icon. He is one of the most articulate and informed people on the radio. Although I may not always agree with him, I respect him and his opinions. One of the best parts of his show is that he helps me thing about my views and study the issues more closely. Best wishes to him and many thanks to his care givers for providing loving care toward his continued recovery.
Aloha nui loa,
Melissa
I don't think there is anyone better than Gene. He always amazes me how he can take a topic where you don't see the other side at all and he will argue from that angle and by the time he has made his point he has you thinking the opposite of what you thought at the beginning. He really makes you think and doesn't try to ram home his point over and over like so many do. I think half the time he takes an opposite position to even what he believes just to provoke discussion. Not all politics all the time like so many blow hards! He can be damn funny when he looses patience with a caller. He's the best!
DeleteThanks Rich! While I thoroughly enjoy listening to the "Bay Area All-Stars" on The Gene Burns Show, I look forward to the day that Gene's voice will grace the airwaves once again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update, Rich. When it comes to the genius of Gene, I'm very patient! I'll be here when he's back, whenever that may be.
ReplyDeleteGodspeed to you Gene, can't wait to hear you back on the air. But first things first, take care of yourself. I sure hope you can ultimately get back to a weekday evening time slot, as that was the perfect time to listen, plus of course your Dining Around show.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the update! Hubby & I are longtime fans of Mr. Burns, enjoy him and his radio show(s) immensely and are sending good thoughts for a full recovery and a return to the radio airwaves soon!
ReplyDelete<3 <3
Best wishes to Gene on his road to recovery and respect for his privacy.
ReplyDeleteWhile perusing the "dining around" page, I saw that Joel Riddell had written that Gene had commenced speech therapy, so the initial reporting from Rich was, in fact, accurate.
I love listening to Joel Riddell on 910 on Saturday mornings. He strikes just the right tone for a dining show--much better than Ryan Scott w/Rich Walcoff on the old KGONE. They are a strident duo and what are Walcoff's credentials to host a dining show?
DeleteMy best to Gene for a complete recovery.
My personal best wishes to Gene for a full and speedy recovery, as well as a return to his status as a Grand Master of the English language. Gene, your presence is sorely missed, and especially for your heartfelt support for the importance of a strong educational system. Without that system, where are our future Grand Masters of the language ever going to come from? Certainly not from the Internet.
ReplyDeleteWhile we should respect Gene's privacy, He is a semi public figure and I hope he'd be willing to tell people what's wrong.
ReplyDeleteOften when people refuse to disclose something rumors crop up.
Also if he is willing to disclose his illness he might have some thoughts on what symptoms he first had and what if anything people should do to get immediate treatment.
Gene isn't coming back and deep down we all know it. Sad to say but reality is reality. I pass his home on a daily basis I don't think he's there I'm Guessing he's in a care facility.
ReplyDeleteWe live between the same two streets one street apart.
I miss Gene so VERY much ! He is the absolute best.
DeleteUnfortunately, I'm afraid what you say is true. Especially,
as someone who just recently lost her mom to a debilitating
illness, seems next to family, the neighbors are best informed
as to what's really going on. Tho, sad to hear it, thanks for
your input...
In the meantime the need to dump the format and go back to John Gibson. I have had enough of the less than stellar fill in hosts.
ReplyDeleteJohn Gibson is a bore the fill in host are 1000 time better than him. Local radio needs a local host.
DeleteI enjoyed John Gibson at times, especially when he was critical of republicans, love to here them beat up on their own, I remember him from when he was on MSNBC and liked his coverage of the death of Princess Diana, however he cannot hold a candle to John Rothman, Gene Burns (my 2 favorites) or Gil Gross, I like Tom Sullivan, I use to listen to him when I lived in the North Bay and travel to Sacramento on business, he is conservative, but he is fair most of the time, he takes calls from people who do not agree with him, and he is polite to callers who don't agree with him, unlike Michael Savage and Mark Levin. No matter the political point of view of the host, I like reasonable calm polite hosts, it would do us all well to try to act that way as much as possible. Anyway I think it serves the Bay Area best to have as many local hosts as possible, and that is the real loss of KGO's format change.
DeleteIn reply to 3:33.That is one of the more ridiculous comments I have read here.The last thing the bay area needs is one more national blowhard on the air.I hope when (not if) Gene returns to the air 910 will make a space for all the local hosts.The 12-3pm slot sounds like nothing but dead air to me.
DeleteAnonymous (3/9, 3:33pm): While I might agree with you that the Friday fill-ins are less than stellar, you are quite wrong about the rest of them -John Rothman, Gil Gross, and pilot guy (whose name escapes me right now). They are all seasoned, intellegent, interesting, and informative people. But then, there are some people who prefer McDonalds to House of Prime Rib.
DeleteMy best wishes to Mr Burns for a speedy recovery, I hope to hear him very soon. In the mean time PLEASE keep the allstars coming. I love hearing them all. I wish all of them had a place on 910am.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree. I really enjoy John, Gil (and Rhoda too when she's there) and Ed & Rosie. I hope Newstalk 910 will find regular spots for them when/if Gene returns.
DeleteGene has been very forthright about all of his health issues in the past. Hell, I still remember when he gave the gory details about his fused spine. I am sure when he returns he will give us all the details. I send him best wishes and unlike the haters and naysayers I will hold off on asking/forecasting his retirement until Gene himself comes out and announces it.
ReplyDeleteWhen Gene was on the other channel (the once great and legendary channel that's currently, sadly, a waste of time that no one even tunes in to anymore) I would make every effort to listen to Gene's monologue especially at 7:05.
ReplyDeleteI would often be amazed at how well he could tell a story, set up the situation, present some details, and ask a question. Even better when he was a bit heated up and artfully expressed his opinion, then asked "am I wrong about this?"
I also enjoyed how he handled his callers. Fair and civil and engaged in great dialog, but wow, when a caller would act like a big fat jerk, Gene would let him (or her) have it. But he didn't cut people off prematurely. He would let the idiots ramble on for as long as ten or even fifteen minutes to really them demonstrate the depths of their ignorance, ridiculousness, prejudice, etc.
All in all, Gene was (and hopefully still is) a master at the art of talk radio hosting. I can't think of anyone better, despite there being quite a bit of good talent over the years that was once assembled on that other station, before it was destroyed.
Anyway, should Gene happen to read this, best wishes, feel better, and I hope to hear you again soon on the radio!
You said it all !
DeleteGene, if you're reading these, please know that I as so many
others miss you terribly. There is no one better at talk radio
than you. Wishing you peace, healing and a joyous quality of
life whether you can come back to radio or not. Much love ~
I agree, Gene is a total icon in the nation. I hope each day to hear he is on the way back. I can't help think the people close to him think there is a chance he will be able to make it back. I wait patiently for that day.
ReplyDeleteYou are kinder than I am, Rich. KGO absolutely WAS responsible for what happened to Gene. They are all bastards and it makes my heart sing to know their ratings are in the gutter.
I'd like to see John Rothmann get the regular gig until until Gene is back. With the election coming up, there is no one better.
Hello, I'm with you regarding Gene, his health, and the callous way punks not worthy of Gene Burns in their presence threw him out like an old antique. They don't have an eighth of Gene's quality and polish, creeps, the lot of them.
DeleteThank you for this update! I love you Gene and I'm praying for a full recovery for you! Take Care!!!
ReplyDeleteRich -- You may not want to blame the Powers That Be at Cumulus for the STRESS that Gene Burns suffered, but I will. CUMULUS DID THIS! We all know that stress kills (or we should know it) and to be dumped as they were on that day....my God. The man had just made it back from a previous problem only to be dumped with a boatload of fresh stress. It was insensitive and reckless what they did.
ReplyDeleteI really miss hearing Gene's voice and lucid commentary. For those of us with evolved brains he's the best...get well Gene!!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I kind of miss Gene's voice and over the top speech affectation. I missed hearing him say "Feb-ROO-Ary" and "Wed-ness-Day" all last month. I wish him well and hope he's able to make it back to local airwaves soon.
ReplyDeleteGene Burns in short, is A CLASS ACT. To me, a good talk show hosts
ReplyDeleteCAN and should be transparent about their personal views. The art is to be able to express your views while not coming off angry. Gene did this better than anyone else on radio. When people call in, no matter how foolish,uneducated, or uninformed they were, he always treated them with respect. Yes, at times he would blow, but it was rare and the callers always deserved it and actually made for really good radio. I soooo miss his voice especially on Saturday mornings when he would talk food and wine. He has been through hell and back with all his health problems over the years but he must be the bionic man because he always recovers. I choose to think he'll be back back. When dealing with a serious illness, as I have as well, the best medicine is optimism and emotional support. I wish someone could create a "get well" website for Gene so his fans could write to him with a daily dose of optisism. Any webmasters out there, please consider this and let Rich know so he can get out the word.
As for John Gibson, I loved John's sick sense of humor. I never took him very seriously but he always made me laugh when he would knock Christine for being dumb and she would snap back at him.
I have been a listener of Gene since his Orlando,FL days in the 80's .. I was delighted when he arrived on the shores of San Francisco.
ReplyDeleteThe radio experience, agree with him or not, is not the same without him.
I like the way he's that willing to engage an opposing viewpoint as long as it's lucid ..
I wish him the best.