Don Imus has died.

[Hardbopjazz]

I remember first hearing him in the 70's on AM radio. 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/celebrity/don-imus-radio-host-who-pushed-boundaries-dies-at-79/ar-BBYp7BZ?ocid=DELLDHP17

 

[Brad]

He was an icon in the radio business and I loved all his rants and when he used to talk to his brother Fred (who died in 2011) but by the time he was kicked off the air in 2007, his time had come and gone. When WFAN was in its infancy, he kept the station alive. I doubt there’d be a WFAN today without him.

RIP Don. 

Edited December 28, 2019 by Brad

[Dave James]

I happened to be listening to his show on 9/11.  Riveting.  interesting guy.  Many times...laugh out loud funny.  He used to do interviews with long gone historical figures like General Patton and Richard Nixon.  And who will ever forget Wilford Brimley talking about Thanksgiving and the right way to stuff your bird.  

Edited December 28, 2019 by Dave James

[Chuck Nessa]

An interesting fellow devolved into a complete dick.

[T.D.]

RIP. Went through some big changes over the years.

I became vaguely aware of Imus around the time of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, when he pulled some outrageous stunt (details of which I forget) at his Radio City (iirc) studio. He then came off as a wild substance-abusing madman.

I became a fan for quite a while, starting in the mid '90s when Imus was on WFAN. He went serious to a degree and mixed legit discussions of books, current events, etc. with his patented outrageous shit (some of which was really funny). [However, even at that time I heard some detailed "insider accounts" of Mr. Imus's behavior that were far from flattering.] After I moved away from the NYC area in 2001 and lost that "NYC edgy attitude / energy" I quickly found his schtick less appealing. By the time of his assholic 2007 "nappy-headed ho" meltdown I hadn't paid attention in years.

Edited December 28, 2019 by T.D.

[Rooster_Ties]

Wasn’t ever even aware of him, until he turned up in the mornings on MSNBC (simulcast with his radio show), pre-“Morning Joe”, which I might have discovered around 2003 or so (best guess). But I rarely watched him, and we’ve always had NPR on the radio in the meanings (since shortly after I got out of college in the early 90’s).

Perhaps I might have taken some interest in him much earlier, but by 2003/4/5, he just seemed like an opinionated loudmouth, who — admittedly — didn’t talk super-loud (I must admit).  But his personality seemed like that of many loudmouths I’d known, so thus I categorized him that way.
 

RIP; I don’t mean to suggest otherwise.

[JSngry]

8 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

An interesting fellow devolved into a complete dick.

Sounds right to me.

Even at that, though, infinitely preferable to Howard Stern,

 

[Larry Kart]

14 hours ago, Dave James said:

I happened to be listening to his show on 9/11.  Riveting.  interesting guy.  Many times...laugh out loud funny.  He used to do interviews with long gone historical figures like General Patton and Richard Nixon.  And who will ever forget Wilford Brimley talking about Thanksgiving and the right way to stuff your bird.  

Mock interviews I assume. Patton died in 1945 or '46 in a car crash in Germany.

[felser]

8 hours ago, JSngry said:

Sounds right to me.

Even at that, though, infinitely preferable to Howard Stern,

 

agree on both points.

[Dave James]

6 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

Mock interviews I assume. Patton died in 1945 or '46 in a car crash in Germany.

Yes.