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After more than four decades on the airwaves in Atlanta, Neal Boortz this morning announced that he is ending his syndicated talk show on January 21, 2013, replaced by former presidential candidate Herman Cain.
Cain will take over that day when the president is officially inaugurated for the next four-year term.
???I???m going to miss everything associated with doing a talk show,??? Boortz said on air as his producer Belinda Skelton teared up.
He said he is not doing this for health reasons. Rather, he wants to travel with his wife Donna.
???We???re going to call this Neal???s happy ending,??? he added later.
After the break, associate producer Christina Gonzalez popped the champagne. Boortz didn???t partake: ???I don???t drink!???
Boortz, 67, has been the longest running talk show host on Atlanta radio. He is now heard locally on 95.5FM and AM750 News/Talk WSB from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays.
In 1969, on what was then called 680/WRNG-AM in Atlanta, Boortz took over for a morning host who had just committed suicide ??? a story he loves to tell.
He earned a law degree and juggled radio and a private practice from 1977 to 1992.
Boortz joined WSB in 1993 when it was just on the AM side. He???s a workaholic who spends four and a half hours on air every day, longer than most hosts, and Tweets several times a day.
A self-proclaimed Libertarian, Boortz usually supports Republican policies and candidates but isn???t always in line with them on social issues such as abortion, gay marriage and drug enforcement. He espouses smaller government but has been more hawkish about terrorism after 9/11 than many Libertarians.
He portrays himself as an entertainer and castigates people who merely echo what he says and don???t think for themselves. His daily line about himself: ???Home of the high priest of the Church of the Painful Truth.???
Boortz has written four books. The most impactful was 2005???s ???The Fair Tax Book,??? which advocates dropping the federal income tax in favor of a national sales tax.
Although Boortz still has a home in Atlanta, he now spends most of his time in Naples, Fla. He grew up in several different places, including Florida, graduated from Texas A&M and spent several years in various professions before radio such as jewelry and carpet buyer, insurance salesman and a speech writer.
He has been lauded by radio groups across the nation over the years, entering the national Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.
Cain, a 66-year-old former CEO of Godfather???s Pizza, joined WSB in 2008 as an evening talk show host until early 2011, when he decided to run for president. His bid ended in December. Since January, he has provided daily commentaries on Boortz???s show and has continued to sub in for Boortz.
Cain???s radio footprint will now be national. Boortz is heard on about 240 radio stations. Talkers magazine, which tracks talk radio, estimates Boortz draws more than six million listeners a week, tied with Laura Ingraham for seventh.
Cain will take over that day when the president is officially inaugurated for the next four-year term.
???I???m going to miss everything associated with doing a talk show,??? Boortz said on air as his producer Belinda Skelton teared up.
He said he is not doing this for health reasons. Rather, he wants to travel with his wife Donna.
???We???re going to call this Neal???s happy ending,??? he added later.
After the break, associate producer Christina Gonzalez popped the champagne. Boortz didn???t partake: ???I don???t drink!???
Boortz, 67, has been the longest running talk show host on Atlanta radio. He is now heard locally on 95.5FM and AM750 News/Talk WSB from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays.
In 1969, on what was then called 680/WRNG-AM in Atlanta, Boortz took over for a morning host who had just committed suicide ??? a story he loves to tell.
He earned a law degree and juggled radio and a private practice from 1977 to 1992.
Boortz joined WSB in 1993 when it was just on the AM side. He???s a workaholic who spends four and a half hours on air every day, longer than most hosts, and Tweets several times a day.
A self-proclaimed Libertarian, Boortz usually supports Republican policies and candidates but isn???t always in line with them on social issues such as abortion, gay marriage and drug enforcement. He espouses smaller government but has been more hawkish about terrorism after 9/11 than many Libertarians.
He portrays himself as an entertainer and castigates people who merely echo what he says and don???t think for themselves. His daily line about himself: ???Home of the high priest of the Church of the Painful Truth.???
Boortz has written four books. The most impactful was 2005???s ???The Fair Tax Book,??? which advocates dropping the federal income tax in favor of a national sales tax.
Although Boortz still has a home in Atlanta, he now spends most of his time in Naples, Fla. He grew up in several different places, including Florida, graduated from Texas A&M and spent several years in various professions before radio such as jewelry and carpet buyer, insurance salesman and a speech writer.
He has been lauded by radio groups across the nation over the years, entering the national Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.
Cain, a 66-year-old former CEO of Godfather???s Pizza, joined WSB in 2008 as an evening talk show host until early 2011, when he decided to run for president. His bid ended in December. Since January, he has provided daily commentaries on Boortz???s show and has continued to sub in for Boortz.
Cain???s radio footprint will now be national. Boortz is heard on about 240 radio stations. Talkers magazine, which tracks talk radio, estimates Boortz draws more than six million listeners a week, tied with Laura Ingraham for seventh.
