Alan Colmes Passes On

Mr. Alan Colmes

The talk radio business was shocked to learn that Alan Colmes had died from cancer after a several month illness.  Alan is best known for his stint with Sean Hannity on Fox, but he had an equally significant role with my good friend and mentor Barry Farber many of you know of from our podcasts here. 

Alan and Barry started Daynet in New York City in the early 90's. At the time I was in the educational software business doing Apple IIe programs for the school market.  I would write and program in the morning and then do office work in the afternoon with the radio on in the background.  I became a regular listener and caller to the Farber/Colmes Show.  Usually taking issue with Alan's liberal positions.  He always argued "clean" unlike some "libs" and was knowledgeable.

During that time I was attracted to local talk radio as a way to put forth my concerns regarding the drought Santa Barbara was having and whether or not we should pay for a connection to the aqueduct.  The "Old Guard," OG, wanted none of it thinking they could preserve the town by limiting water.  My work showed we stood a higher chance of killing the town and I did an appearance on a local talk show debating an OG hired gun, $93,000 Ph.D. economist hired to make their case.  He was sloppy and I mopped the floor with him to the utter delight of the host and the town.

To advance my case I got my own show and kept turning the screws.  The measure passed and local paper credited me as "the #4 reason." From that moment, I could not borrow a Dollar in that town, but I stayed on the air in spite of a liberal station owner and General Manager, GM, and even more liberal Program Director, PD. They loved my numbers in the Arbitron Book and all the local businesses wanting to sponsor my show, but my politics drove them nuts. Enter Alan Colmes...

They would arrange a "five minute" segment for me with Alan as they carried his show airing just before mine and we would discuss the political topic of the day while my GM and PD sat in an office keeping score.  On the days he bested me they appeared in my studio, grinning to rehash the show.  Alan never sent them a bill for this as many in the business would and I think he was smart to do it as it helped him build an audience in our town. He did very well in our local "book."

I did not meet Alan until 2016 at the Talkers National Meeting in New York City, there as a guest of Barry and Sara Farber as I am not on the air presently.  He was very cordial, but I doubt he remembered me.  Alan had a long career in the business actually starting in high school with a local show on WGBB in Long Island, taking a detour to doing stand up, which is not all that much different from doing local talk, but they cannot throw anything at you.  Alan moved on and the rest is history...

Ironically, while all this was going on Sean Hannity started his radio career on the campus of UCSB.  A devout Catholic, Sean made an aside that homosexuality was a sin so UCSB FM  GM Elizabeth Robinson canned him and that hit the pages of the local weekly left-wing rag and talk radio.  I was one of the few who defended Sean's position as the remark was intelligent, valid and not angry or evil.  He called, we became friends and that is another story...

Adrian Vance