24 Facts About Ray Taliaferro

1.

Raphael Vincent "Ray" Taliaferro was an American radio host and liberal political commentator.

2.

Ray Taliaferro joined KGO News Talk AM 810 in 1977.

3.

Ray Taliaferro grew up in the Hunters Point district of San Francisco.

4.

Ray Taliaferro was an on-air personality for KGO NEWSTALK AM 810.

5.

Ray Taliaferro routinely participated in charity and promotional events as a spokesman, moderator and panelist.

6.

Ray Taliaferro joined KGO Radio in 1977, when he co-hosted KGO-TV's AM Weekend program.

7.

Ray Taliaferro was claimed to be the first African American talk show host on a major market radio station in the country in 1967.

8.

Ray Taliaferro helped found the National Association of Black Journalists in 1975, and was honored by the San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce in 1994 with the Black Chamber Life Award, recognizing him as a "forerunner in broadcasting".

9.

Ray Taliaferro aired the last interview done with Walter Cronkite on his Monday, July 27,2009 program, following the news of Cronkite's death.

10.

Ray Taliaferro's nighttime talk show mainly dealt with political issues affecting the United States and the state of California.

11.

Ray Taliaferro was known for his consistently strong criticisms of Israel, George W Bush and other prominent conservative politicians, as well as conservatives who called his show.

12.

The Ray Taliaferro show rarely featured guest interviews, but periodically featured special broadcasts related to poetry and music.

13.

Ray Taliaferro discussed "scary" callers in a November 1988 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, noting that several women have shown up at the station to meet him and he has had to get security to stop them.

14.

Ray Taliaferro was a lifelong Democrat, and endorsed Barack Obama for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and election.

15.

Ray Taliaferro was president of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP from 1968 to 1971.

16.

Ray Taliaferro dedicated considerable time and energy to public service to San Francisco, his home town.

17.

Ray Taliaferro was the Mayor's Commissioner of the War Memorial Trustee Board from 1992 through 2000, and he headed up the San Francisco Art Commission for 16 years.

18.

Ray Taliaferro hosted events and served as a member of the Board of Governors of The Commonwealth Club of California.

19.

Ray Taliaferro performed memorably as music director with his Ray Tal Chorale for Dr Martin Luther King's June 30,1964 service at the Cow Palace on a stifling hot day to a standing-room-only audience just south of San Francisco.

20.

Ray Taliaferro was first married to Carolyn Theodosia McAdoo in Los Angeles County.

21.

Ray Taliaferro was remarried to Charlotte Crawford in June 2018.

22.

Ray Taliaferro was reported missing by his wife on November 10,2018, during a visit to Massac County, Illinois,.

23.

Ray Taliaferro was seen later the same day in Paducah, Kentucky, possibly suffering from dementia.

24.

Autopsy results showed Ray Taliaferro died from a combination of hypertensive cardiovascular disease with a likely contribution from hypothermia and environmental exposure.