Gene Burns (December 3, 1940 – May 25, 2013) was an American

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

host. He hosted ''Dining Around with Gene Burns'', a food

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

and travel program, which aired Saturdays on NewsTalk 810 AM in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He also hosted ''The Gene Burns Program'', a

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

and

social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

show, that aired on NewsTalk 810. He had previously broadcast both shows on KGO in San Francisco. On December 1, 2011, it was announced he was among the hosts cut by KGO as it shifted to more of a news format. Burns was scheduled to continue his shows on the radio station KKSF 910 AM on January 3, 2012. Instead, fill-in hosts took his place as he recovered from an unknown illness. On April 3, 2012, Burns disclosed on his KKSF blog that he was recovering from a stroke that had resulted in

aphasia Aphasia is an inability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine but aphasia due to stroke is estimated to be 0.1–0.4% in t ...

. Burns worked in several different major markets throughout his broadcasting career. In addition to San Francisco, he also hosted radio programs in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Early life

Burns was born and raised in Hornell, New York. Following high school graduation, he attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

before becoming involved in the local politics of Hornell, serving as chairman of a young citizens' committee."Radio Years – Who's Who: Gene Burns"
RadioYears.com. Retrieved 2010-07-31.

Radio career

In his early twenties, Burns was hired as news director for radio station WWHG in his hometown of Hornell, New York, before moving on to WSBA in

York, Pennsylvania York (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populatio ...

.(2002
"Talker Magazine Online: Radio#24: Gene Burns"
'' Talkers Magazine Online''. Retrieved 2010-07-31. He began his career as talk radio host at

WCBM WCBM (680 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is owned by WCBM Maryland, Inc., and broadcasts a talk radio format, calling itself "Talk Radio 680 WCBM." The radio studios and offices are on York Road in Luthervi ...

in Baltimore in the mid-1960s. While at WCBM, Burns did two major international assignments, going to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Burns, Gene (2008
"I Have Re-registered as a Democrat"
, KGOAM810.com. Retrieved 2010-07-31. in 1968 and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

in 1969. Following a brief stint with WEEI in Boston, Burns served as a talk show host as well as program director at

WKIS WKIS (99.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Boca Raton, Florida, and serving South Florida, including the Miami-Fort Lauderdale radio market. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a country music radio format. Its studios are loca ...

in Orlando, Florida, beginning in 1971. He would remain there until 1981, when he departed for

WCAU WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jer ...

in Philadelphia in 1981. He then returned to Orlando and WKIS in the early 1980s and was named the station's operations manager in 1984.Gene Burns biography and interview
CFLradio.net. Retrieved 2010-07-31. In 1985, Burns returned to Boston, hosting a talk show on

WRKO WRKO (680 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by iHeartMedia, WRKO is a Class B AM station that provides secondary coverage to portio ...

for eight years. In 1993, Burns moved to New York City and began hosting a nationally syndicated talk program from the studios of WOR. In 1995, he resumed his broadcasting career at KGO in San Francisco. He hosted a talk show of political and social commentary called ''The Gene Burns Program'' on weeknights, as well as a program that focused on wine and fine dining in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

called ''Dining Around with Gene Burns'' which was broadcast weekly on Saturdays. ''

Talkers ''Talkers Magazine'' is a trade-industry publication related to talk radio in the United States. Its slogan is "The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media". In addition to radio, it also covers talk shows on broadcast and cable television, a ...

'' magazine ranked Burns #24 on its list of The 25 Greatest Radio and Television Talk Show Hosts of All Time, in 2002.

Politics

As a political commentator, Burns was known for his libertarian views. He ran for the presidential nomination of the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, but withdrew his candidacy prior to the party's nominating convention citing a lack of financial support. In 2008, Burns announced that he had "re-registered" as a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, which he had left in the late 1960s after having been a member for several years.

Death

Burns died May 25, 2013, in

. He had suffered two strokes and had other health problems. He was 72.

References

External links

* *
''Dining Around''
(formerly ''Dining around with Gene Burns'') official site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Gene 1940 births 2013 deaths American libertarians American political commentators American talk radio hosts California Democrats California Libertarians People from Hornell, New York Radio personalities from Baltimore Radio personalities from Boston Radio personalities from New York City Radio personalities from Orlando, Florida Radio personalities from Philadelphia Radio personalities from San Francisco Rutgers University alumni Candidates in the 1984 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians