Rush Limbaugh: A Kind Man, A Radio Legend. Tom Sullivan Talks To A&G

Business or someplace like that. Tom Sullivan, welcome to the show. Thank you, guys. Hi. How good to talk to you on a sad day, but good to talk to you. It is sad, and it's worth mentioning that Russia Limball was not only a colleague of years and somebody you admired like us, but he was a good friend of yours for a long time. I I say this too. I told my my children, you know, if you have you have three friends in your lifetime. I mean like

real friends. I know a lot of people, you guys know a lot of people, but I mean a friend that you can talk to about anything and share your deepest thoughts. Um, that was Rush, and he was one of I would count him one of three people in my lifetime that I was that close to. And we even though we worked together many years ago, we always stayed in touch when he would be in my area, stayed at our at Mark our home, and I would stay we would stayed at his home in Florida, and

he was the best man at my wedding. I mean we we're very, very close. And um people asked, they said, oh, you you must talk to the Rush about about politics and about Democrats and Republicans. No, no, actually no, we never ever talked about topics that we would talk about

on radio. We talked as friends about things that friends talked to each other about, but we never talked about you know, politics or the president or anything else like that, which is I guess why we stayed friends so unique that we get to talk to somebody who actually knew Rush personally then, because um, we're on the radio business.

And what made him what he is? What was his unique skill that made him maybe the biggest star in the history of radio, certainly arguably the biggest you know presence in the history of radio, going all the way back to the twenties. I don't think anybody's ever been bigger than Rush Limbaugh. Since you knew him personally and professionally, what unique skill did he have that allowed him to pull that off? Here's how I got into talk radio, and I'll maybe try to answer that question with this.

So he got his gig in New York and he told me. He told me about his negotiations. He was talking with this guy Ed McLoughlin and talking about New York and he says, I'm really interested in doing it. So we were at lunch and I said to him, after the deal was announced and he was moving to New York, and they asked me because when he first went to New York, his show was two hours, and so they asked me to fill in for that third

hour and to to fill that spot. And I said to him, I said, Rush, I said, at the time, I was doing business reports. I'm a financial guy. And I said to him, I says, so what what do I do? What? What's what's the trick, what's the technique, what's the And he he said to me, he says, listen, he says, just be yourself. He said, just be yourself. He says, if you even though you're doing at the time,

I was doing a local show. He says, always do things from the standpoint of a national audience, so that you're always talking about issues that affect our country and the topics of the country, and don't matter who's listening, they will have some relationship with you. That's all he told me. He says, he says, you're gonna have to figure it out on your own, and I hope you do. Good luck, and I'm out of here. And so he

left that I figured it out to some extent. But um, I can't answer that question because his connection with his audience is you guys have your following. I have my following, but nobody has a following like Rush. There was a connection, a relationship with his audience that was genuine and from his heart, and he uh, it was unique. I don't know how this is the problem. How do you find you know? People are How about the who's the next? Look at? There isn't That was? That was He was

one of a kind, one of the Tom Tom. Let's talk a little bit about before he was nationally syndicated, because he worked with him in Sacramento, California, the same newsroom or our careers started. Um, he was so funny and so irreverent in the early part of his career. I think people who have latched on the last ten fifteen years don't know that it was I don't think people understand that. I don't think he ever did politics when he was in Sacramento. Really he did a lot

of a lot of funny topics that were hilarious. And he has a committed side to him that is unbelievable. But he was so he was. Yes, he was extremely funny, very entertaining. He's an entertainer first and foremost, and you and to me, I believe that you've got to entertain and inform in order to succeed in this business. And and he did. But his entertainment side, he was also, of course massive information guy. But I mean he introduced things. Um,

he first started. It was October of and this new guy came to down He replaced more Downey Jr. Who had told an ethnic joke on the air and got fired. And so the consultant guy by the name of Norm was the guy who brought him the Sacramento from Kansas City. And so here's this new guy and he comes in and he sits down. He's doing his radio show. And I gotta tell you, if you can find tapes of the first three months of Russia's radio show, it was

kind of boring. He would do things about, well, Russia is doing this, the Soviet Union and the Chinese says, and I thought, oh boy, I don't know if this guy's gonna make it, because he was following there were a lot of people who were mad about Morton Downey Jr. Who was outrageous getting fired, and they did not like this new guy. So along comes a little town north of Sacramento. Yuba City had some problem with people smoking in their library, and they banned smoking in their libraries.

This one smoking was let hit and so he came on and started having a show, and he said, I have to tell you there's we are having a no smoking section here and we are banning anybody from Uba City that is a smoker. You cannot call this program. It was hilarious the way he was able to deliver

that thing. And from there on end came the sticks that he did that were Slim Whitman records playing backwards where the devil was in them, and he it was it was be on he was so creative and so funny, So he really did not do politics until he got on the national stage. That's really interesting. I didn't know that. I knew he did more you know, bits and irreverence stuff early on when he was a local host, but I assumed he was still politically driven to start with,

but not at all. So what made him decide to make the switch. Did this station he went to New York so they know we want more politics? Or did he just since that was The Times or something? I think it was The Times, and he was He was a massive hit instantly in New York, and there were people like Bill Buckley, Uh, there was Henry Kissinger, other people that were big deals in New York at the time, embraced him, and he kind of got introduced on a first hand basis to some of the big political leaders

uh in New York and in our country. I think that was all it was. He the talent was always there. He just it wasn't really something that came up in local conversation, but it did on a national basis, you know, Tom last question from me, anyway, we all try to be ourselves. I think anybody who's ever been successful in this business is to a large measure themselves on the air because you have to, and people smell jive from

a million miles away. On the other hand, there's there's part of you that maybe doesn't come out on the air. How would you describe Russia Limball the human being to listeners who just know him through the air? Um, I've told people this and they look at me like I'm crazy. Um Rush was I can't believe I'm saying. Was Um a extremely polite Midwest son of the Midwest, son of Missouri Cape Girardo, over overly polite and also very generous,

just a kind man that Um. The bravado on the air was bravado, but his beliefs were I mean, he didn't make up his beliefs. He believed everything he said, but he said it with more bravado. I think for production values more than anything else. But what a kind, polite man he was, and anybody who ever really got to meet him off the air saw it instantly. It's just over the top politeness and kind and generous, a

lot of friends and non friends, and amazing what he had. Well, Tom, we we appreciate you coming on because you know we realize it's a it's a personal loss for you. It's not just talking about a celebrity like it is for a lot of us talking heads. But appreciate you taking the time today, Jack, good to talk to you. Likewise, extra large