As you must know by now, Neal Boortz has left the building, literally, and if his schedule hasn’t changed, he and his wife Donna by now are on the road again, in semi-retirement, tooling around the nation in a mansion on wheels.

Neal is the nationally syndicated radio talk show who’s been on radio here for more than 40 years and who lived in the panhandle of Sandy Springs. Now he and Donna are living the good life, on wheels, on wings, on water and, knowing Neal and Donna, on adrenalin.

One of Neal’s pet projects has been to write his latest book,  Maybe I Should Just Shut Up and Go Away.

It is very funny, with interesting tales of the world of big and small time radio.  He’s done it all and loves to talk about it. One of my favorite chapters is, “Why Liberals Suck at Talk Radio.” Some excerpts:

“People who listen to talk radio have...finely tuned b———t detectors. They can smell a phony right through the radio dial and they head to the dial to change stations. Talk radio listeners will accept and tolerate any position on any issue, if it’s presented with honesty, rationality and (a little) logic. 

“They’ll also tolerate irrational and illogical banter if it’s presented with humor. All this means liberals are pretty much screwed when it comes to success in talk radio. The facts are working against them; they can’t carry an argument using logic or reason and, as far as humor is concerned, let me know how your search for a truly funny liberal turns out.”

Neal explains why so many liberals refer to conservative talk programs as “hate radio.”  Says Neal, “Liberals are so miserably inept and unsuccessful at talk radio, their mindset is that they simply must find a way to destroy it. (They believe) that which cannot be controlled must be destroyed.”

Neal is a complicated man. For example, this libertarian has a clearly explained disdain for people who hunt and kill animals for sport.

“You (hunters) say, ‘Look, Boortz, if it wasn’t for us hunters, there would be (insert animal here) starving out there.’ Yeah, right. You’re telling me that if you’re in the woods and see two deer, one emaciated, diseased... and the other healthy and proud with a rack that would make Dolly Parton jealous, you’re going to shoot the sick one, right? We both know the truth ain’t in ya.”

Having known Neal and Donna for 20-plus years, my wife Chris and I have learned a few things about them.

First, Donna’s charitable good deeds are legion, yet she seeks no credit, no clamor. Just one example was a generous gift to an emergency shelter for children at risk.

Neal is a softie in a virtual suit of armor. When a friend needs help, Neal is there. On the air he once pretended to throw kittens out of an airplane in flight, yet he tears up watching a box full of puppies. And the book is funny. 

Happy trails, Neal and Donna. I know you’ll be back because you told me so:

“We’ll scurry back home every once in a while to take care of business and check in with our friends.”  

don@donfarmer.com

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