David Raymond Barber (April 25, 1955 – July 4, 2015) was an American talk radio and television personality from

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. Born to parents of Croatian descent, Barber attended

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

. In the 1970s, Barber started his radio career at

WTRX WTRX (1330 AM, "Sports XTRA 1330") is an American radio station broadcasting a sports format in Flint, Michigan. It is the Flint affiliate for Michigan Wolverines football and men's basketball, and CBS Sports Radio. Its studios are located in ...

, where he hosted a talk program called ''Flint Feedback''. Barber's show often dealt with controversial topics, including an incident when he had a naked woman in his studio, long before the days of Howard Stern. Barber also did shows on WTAC (now

WSNL WSNL (600 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a religious format. Licensed to Flint, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 1946. The original call letters were WFLM, but the station was purchased in December 1946 by George W. Trendle and H. A ...

) and WFDF. In 2001, Barber moved to the Michigan Talk Radio Network where his show was syndicated to radio stations across the state of Michigan. After short stints for Air America Radio and another Flint station,

WWCK (AM) WWCK (1570 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Flint, Michigan. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it broadcasts a classic hits radio format. Its studios are south of the Flint city limits and the AM transmitter is east of downtown Flint near ...

, Barber moved to Providence, RI in 2006 and worked for WPRO and then

Capital TV Capital TV was a British rolling-music television channel owned by Global as a visual brand extension of radio's Capital FM. The channel played current chart hits. It reached 820,000 viewers on average every month on Sky alone. Capital TV wa ...

. Barber returned to the Flint area on June 25, 2015 to attend a family wedding. However, while at a rehearsal dinner, Barber choked and collapsed. He was rushed to a

Pontiac, MI Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Found ...

hospital where doctors discovered that he had a heart attack and a stroke. After 10 days in a coma, Barber died at 10:45 a.m. on July 4 at the age of 60. Barber was once married to Ann Burke. He had a son, Chase Seegmiller, from a previous relationship. He is also survived by a brother and many relatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Dave 1955 births 2015 deaths American television personalities