Bulletin: Michael Jackson, 1934-2022
We were traveling yesterday when we heard the sad news that legendary talk show host Michael Jackson had passed at the age of 87. Jackson had apparently been battling Parkinson's Disease for over a decade.
Jackson defined talk radio in Los Angeles for three decades at KABC Radio. He also helped launch ABC's "Talkradio" Network in the early 1980s. He was seen on TV, sitting in for Larry King on CNN, plus being part of an innovative, but ultimately unsuccessful "news wheel" format at KCBS-TV where hard news was interspersed with features and interviews in 1986.
We're now trying to gather some interviews from those who worked with Jackson, so please check in again. He was surrounded by his children when he passed, Jackson was preceded in death by his wife Alana Ladd Jackson.
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The passing of Michael Jackson hit me hard. He was the sole reason I started listening to talk radio way back in the late 80's while I was a junior in high school. I began to love KABC and found myself doing homework while listening to other hosts like David Viscott, Ira Fistell, Ken and Bob, Sunday's Religion on the Line and of course Dodger Talk. With his passing it seems like I lost a little bit of my happier younger days when the world truly seemed a little kindler and gentler place. I was saddened once the conga line of new management at that station let him go and virtually destroyed that station. I miss those days, I miss Michael and I miss the old KABC. Thank you Michael you will be missed.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear! My sentiments are reflected in what you've eloquently written here.
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