29 Facts About David Brudnoy

David Barry Brudnoy was an American talk radio host in Boston from 1976 to 2004.

David Brudnoy's radio talk show aired on WBZ radio and he espoused his libertarian views on a wide range of political issues in a courteous manner.

David Brudnoy was interested in history, and thanks to the influence of his Aunt Kathie, with whom he was close for all of his life, he became interested in movies; he often attended them with her.

Years later, Brudnoy would become known for his work as a film critic, and he remarked in his autobiography that his aunt had undoubtedly contributed to his success by taking him to so many films.

David Brudnoy first attended college in 1958, receiving a BA in Japanese Studies from Yale in New Haven.

David Brudnoy received MAs from Harvard and Brandeis, and a PhD from Brandeis, focusing on East Asian studies and history.

David Brudnoy received an honorary doctorate from Emerson College in 1996.

David Brudnoy was respected as an educator: student evaluations for his courses at Boston University indicate that they were very well received, and former students were among those who wrote eloquent tributes to him when he died.

David Brudnoy began a career in broadcast commentary in 1971 on Boston's local PBS television station, WGBH-TV.

David Brudnoy took to the job with ease, and increasingly gained popularity.

David Brudnoy wrote movie reviews for Boston magazine and local community newspapers.

David Brudnoy wrote for The Alternative in the early 1970s, but quit because of the editor's unwillingness to adopt a more liberal position on gay rights.

David Brudnoy's articles have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, and The Saturday Evening Post.

David Brudnoy's popularity escalated him into the Boston media elite, and he was the host of numerous social gatherings at his upscale Back Bay apartment, mixing students, media personalities, and politicians.

In 1997, David Brudnoy was awarded the Freedom of Speech Award from the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts, and was nominated for the major market "Personality of the Year" Marconi Radio Award by the National Association of Broadcasters.

David Brudnoy was inducted to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame, posthumously, in 2008.

David Brudnoy described his own manner as "less ideological and more empathic", in contrast to more recent figures of conservative talk radio.

In 2000, David Brudnoy declared himself a member of the Libertarian Party.

David Brudnoy did have a bar mitzvah in May 1953, but he was already becoming skeptical of religion and recalled that event as the last time he followed his religious traditions.

David Brudnoy came to realize that he was homosexual early in life but successfully hid the fact for many years.

David Brudnoy did not reveal his homosexuality to his father and stepmother until his illness in 1994; his father Harry was 88 years old when David Brudnoy finally phoned him to give him the news and discuss the health crisis he was undergoing.

David Brudnoy had previously come out to his aunt and uncle after they lost a son to AIDS.

David Brudnoy publicly revealed his homosexuality in 1994, after returning from hospitalization to overcome his long-hidden fight with AIDS.

When David Brudnoy died, it was Cromer who became executor of his estate.

David Brudnoy was absent from public life for some time to fight the disease.

Once he was able to return to the air, David Brudnoy announced the creation of a fund to fight AIDS.

David Brudnoy's illness inspired him to publish his autobiography; at the time, it was not a best-seller, but after he died, it became a collector's item, since his publisher had originally let it go out of print and now many of his fans wanted copies of it.

David Brudnoy checked into Massachusetts General Hospital on December 3,2004.

David Brudnoy died hours after having the support removed, on December 9,2004.