Neal Boortz
Neal Boortz | |
---|---|
John Marshall Law School | |
Occupation(s) | Radio host, author, attorney |
Spouse | Donna Boortz |
Children | Laura |
Website | boortz |
Neal A Boortz Jr. (born April 6, 1945) is an American author, former attorney, and former libertarian
Boortz's first involvement with radio was in the 1960s, while he was a student at Texas A&M University, working as a local on-air personality at WTAW. After moving to Georgia, he became an avid listener of Atlanta's first talk radio station. Boortz became a regular caller to the morning talk show. When the show's host died, it created a job opening, which Boortz actively pursued. He was initially hired on a two-week "trial run", and later offered the permanent position. Boortz attended law school, earning a law degree in 1977. For some years he worked as both an attorney and as a talk show host. He eventually closed his law practice after 17 years to concentrate on his work in radio.
Boortz has received many industry accolades. He was named as one of the "25 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America" by Talkers magazine, and one of "Georgia's 100 Most Influential People" by Georgia Trend. In 2009, Boortz was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
Boortz's first book was The Commencement Speech You Need To Hear in 1997,[2] followed by The Terrible Truth About Liberals, in 1998.[3] In 2005, he co-wrote The FairTax Book with Congressman John Linder, proposing to implement a variant of a national retail sales tax in lieu of other federal taxes. Boortz's involvement with the FairTax is covered in the documentary film An Inconvenient Tax.
Biography
Early life and education
Boortz was born in
Careers
Law school and radio
Boortz began his radio career in
While watching the news one evening, he heard that Elfman had committed suicide. The next morning, Boortz showed up at the front door of WRNG and announced that he was ready to take Elfman's place. Even though the management told him that "they were going to search for a 'qualified' host to take his place," Boortz was offered the role of temporary two-week replacement. In the interim, the evening host was moved to mornings and Boortz hosted the evening time slot. Two weeks later, Boortz was moved to the morning show, embarking on an Atlanta talk radio career that spanned more than forty years.[6] Boortz honed his skills at the tiny 1,000-watt station, and even wrote a few speeches for then Georgia Governor Lester Maddox. He continued working at the station until 1974, when WRNG "dumped him." He was offered a job at radio station WGY in Schenectady, New York, but turned the offer down to return to Atlanta and enroll in law school. In 1974, Boortz enrolled in then-unaccredited
Full-time radio career
While in law school, Boortz returned to work at WRNG. In 1983 he moved to the larger news-talk radio station
"Don't believe anything you read on [the Neal Boortz] web page or, for that matter, anything you hear on The Neal Boortz Show unless it is consistent with what you already know to be true, or unless you have taken the time to research the matter to prove its accuracy to your own satisfaction."[6]
Neal Boortz
In 1999, his show became
In 2007, Boortz and his radio show were awarded "Best Radio On-Air Personality" and "Best Radio Program, Any Type" by The Georgia Association of Broadcasters. He was also a recipient of the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame 2007 Career Achievement Award.[12] The Neal Boortz Show originated from the nation's ninth largest radio market[13] and was ranked the sixth overall most listened to radio program in the country.[14] In 2008, Boortz was a finalist for the National Association of Broadcasters "Marconi Award" as the nation's best syndicated radio personality. (The award went to Glenn Beck).[15]
Boortz was inducted in the
Boortz retired from full-time radio work in 2013. [17]
Author
Boortz's first foray into authorship was in 1997 with The Commencement Speech You Need To Hear, in which he delivers his opinions on various topics in the form of a commencement speech he would give to new college graduates, if ever invited to do so.[2] His second book, entitled The Terrible Truth About Liberals, was published in 1998, and contains reprinted material from his first book, along with a significant amount of new material.[3]
His third book (co-authored by Georgia Congressman
His fourth book entitled Somebody's Gotta Say It was released on February 20, 2007,
His 2008 book is titled
After Boortz retired from talk radio in January 21, 2013, Maybe I Should Just Shut Up and Go Away! (
Retirement
After Boortz retired from full-time radio work in 2013, he hosted commentaries for WSB for six more years, until they were discontinued by station.[17]
In January 2022, Boortz returned to radio part-time on WFOM (1230 AM, "Xtra 106.3" FM) in Atlanta, Georgia. Boortz pre-records "The Boortz Report", a commentary that is aired several times each weekday, and appears on the station at least once a week for live segments with the local morning hosts.[17][24]
Political beliefs
Boortz is a self-described
and his opposition to the unrestricted immigration policy advocated by the Libertarian Party.Boortz criticizes the major parties saying "I believe that the principal difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the
Boortz's post-
Prior to the 2006 midterm elections, Boortz opined that perhaps it would be a good thing to have the Republicans lose power in Congress, forcing them to wake up and stop taking their base for granted. Boortz told one disgruntled caller:
I am happy about it [the defeat]. It's the only way to get these Republicans to wake themselves up and say, 'You have abandoned what you were put in office for.'[30]
Boortz creates controversy among conservatives for his support of
The Neal Boortz Show
The Neal Boortz Show was a
Boortz marketed his talk radio show as "insensitivity training", creating controversy which increased ratings. His stated "beliefs" included a claim that
Some of his remarks caused controversy. After the Virginia Tech shootings, Boortz criticized the media, saying, "When the history of this event is written, we will have 25 students standing meekly waiting for this guy to execute them."[41] When public outrage resulted from his comments, members of the Virginia Legislature tried to have Boortz's show removed from local radio stations.[42] In March 2008, Boortz attracted controversy by playing an audiotape of a nine-year-old where he repeatedly ridiculed the child's speech,[43] leading to an unsuccessful FCC petition to deny Boortz's employer the right to purchase five local radio stations.[44][45][46]
On June 4, 2012, Boortz announced that he would retire from radio by the end of the year. His last live show aired on January 18, 2013. Boortz's regular fill-in host, Herman Cain, replaced him on January 21, 2013, in what amounted to a swap of seats, as Boortz became Cain's fill-in host.[citation needed] Boortz hosted commentaries for WSB for six more years, until they were discontinued by station. [17][24]
Notes
- ^ "Neal Boortz". Townhall.com.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-56352-434-9.
- ^ ISBN 1-56352-685-9.
- ^ Boortz, Neal (2003-03-23). "Thrall Volunteer Fire Department". Nealz Nuze. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ a b Boortz, Neal. "More Boortz FAQ". More Boortz. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-03-02. Retrieved 2006-03-08.
- ^ a b c d "Neal Boortz Bio". Premiere Speakers Bureau. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
- ^ a b Boortz, Neal. "More Boortz Bio". More Boortz. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-03-02. Retrieved 2006-03-08.
- ^ "Neal Boortz Bio". Soylent Communications/nndb.com. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ a b c d e f "Neal Boortz: Have Mouth Will Talk". Atlanta. July 1, 1998. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- ^ "Elder, Boortz, and McWilliams round out Convention '98 line-up". Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
- ^ "Neal Boortz". Cox Radio Interactive & Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-08-10. Retrieved 2006-08-16.
- ^ "Neal Boortz accepts his award from Pete Spriggs, WSB Program Director", www.grhof.com Archived June 10, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ "Atlanta Moves Ahead of DC in Fall 2007 Market Rankings". RADIO ONLINE and Arbitron. 2007-09-20. Archived from the original on 2007-08-02. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
- ^ "The Top Talk Radio Audiences". Talkers Magazine. 2008-10-15. Archived from the original on 2008-03-24. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- ^ "Glenn Beck Named Network/Syndicated Personality Of The Year", www.nab.org. Retrieved 2008-12-28. Archived November 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Radio Hall of Fame inductees: Neal Boortz" Archived July 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, www.radiohof.org/
- ^ a b c d Ho, Rodney (January 24, 2022). "Neal Boortz to provide daily commentaries on Xtra 106.3/1230". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
- ^ ISBN 0-06-087549-6.
- ^ a b Matt Kempner, "The FairTax Book author from Atlanta is pumping up volume on sales of book." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 20, 2005.
- ^ a b Boortz, Neal (2005-09-07). "Nealz Nuze". Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-08-31. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-06-087820-7.
- ^ Ho, Rodney (2005-09-07). "3/1: Boortz debuts at No. 2 (UPDATED)". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on March 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
- ISBN 978-0-06-154046-2.
- ^ a b "Neal Boortz Returns to Atlanta Airwaves on XTRA 106.3". Radio-Online.com. January 24, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
- ^ a b Johnston, Joy. "Neal Boortz Atlanta Celebrity Profile". About.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
- ^ Boortz, Neal (2006-10-04). "Following Up On Yesterday's Tirade". Nealz Nuze. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-11-11. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
- ^ a b c Boortz, Neal (2003-11-24). "Just What Is The Problem With Pre-Emptive Warfare". Archived from the original on 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ "Neal Boortz". 580wdbo.com. Archived from the original on 2001-06-29. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
- ^ Raimondo, Justin (2003-11-26). "Boot Boortz!". Antiwar.com. Retrieved 2006-08-16.
- ^ Bigg, Matthew (2006-11-09). "Talk radio hosts lick election wounds". Reuters. Retrieved 2006-11-09.[dead link]
- ^ Boortz, Neal (2006-06-05). "That Bush .. He's Really In Touch, Isn't He?". Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
- ^ Scroggins, Steve. "Strange bedfellows:the ACLU, Neal Boortz & Cobb County police". GeorgiaHeritageCouncil.org. Archived from the original on 2007-08-22. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ Boortz, Neal (2003-05-29). "For Those Of You Who Are Drugging Your Kids". Nealz Nuze. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-11-11. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ Boortz, Neal (2003-07-18). "Ask Your Doctor About Stratteras". Nealz Nuze. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-11-11. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ Boortz, Neal. "The Neal Boortz Commencement Speech". More Boortz. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-11-11. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ Boortz, Neal (2003-10-06). "California Hasn't Been Punished Enough". Nealz Nuze. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-11-11. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ a b Boortz, Neal. "Boortztionary: A Glossary of Terms Neal Uses". More Boortz. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ Boortz, Neal (2006-04-03). "An Apology". Nealz Nuze. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-08-27. Retrieved 2006-08-16.
- ^ Boortz, Neal (2006-02-03). "Outraged Muslims! Oh My!". Nealz Nuze. Cox Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2006-08-16.
- ^ "Boortz: Say the creed of Islam". MsUnderestimated. 2006-08-10. Archived from the original on 2006-10-19. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
- ^ Steinberg, Jacques. The New York Times. 2007/04/20. Talk Radio Tries for Humor and a Political Advantage Archived October 17, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2008/08/06
- ^ Gangloff, Mike. The Roanoke Times. 2007/05/02. Radio stations report little outcry about Boortz Retrieved 2008/08/06.
- ^ Burnett, Daniel. The Voice, Gainesville State College. "Boortz's Morals Challenged by GSC Professor - News". Archived from the original on 2008-11-02. Retrieved 2008-08-08. Boortz's Morals Challenged by GSC Professor. Retrieved 2008/08/04
- ^ Nelson, Don. Athens Banner-Herald. 2008/06/12 "Feds sign off on sale of stations | Online Athens". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2008-08-08. Feds sign off on sale of stations Retrieved 2008/08/06
- ^ Federal Communications Commission. 2008/06/10. Daily Report. Retrieved 2008/08/04
- ^ Federal Communications Commission. 2008/06/10. Complaint letter. Retrieved 2008/08/04
Further reading
- Boortz, Neal (1997). The Commencement Speech You Need To Hear (Hardcover ed.). Longstreet Press. ISBN 978-1-56352-434-9.
- Boortz, Neal (1998). The Terrible Truth About Liberals (Paperback ed.). Longstreet Press. ISBN 1-56352-685-9.
- Boortz, Neal; Linder, John (2006). ISBN 0-06-087549-6.
- Boortz, Neal (2007). Somebody's Gotta Say It (Paperback ed.). Regan Books. ISBN 978-0-06-087820-7.
- Boortz, Neal; Linder, John (2008). The FairTax: The Truth (Paperback ed.). ISBN 978-0-06-154046-2.
External links