EIB Family,

13 Dec 2021

I’m sure you all know by now I really don’t like talking about myself, and I don’t like making things about me — other than in the usual satirical, parodic, joking way. I like my radio program to be about the things that matter to all of us.

The one thing I know that has happened over the 31-plus years of eib is that there has been an incredible bond that has developed between all of you and me. It is a family-type relationship, and this job is what has provided me the greatest satisfaction and happiness that I’ve ever experienced, more than I ever thought I would experience.

So I have to tell you something that I wish I didn’t have to tell you. It’s a struggle for me. I had to inform my staff earlier. Even though people are telling me it’s not the way to look at it, I can’t help but feel that I’m letting everybody down with this. But the upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, a diagnosis confirmed by two medical institutions on January 20. I first realized something was wrong on my birthday weekend, January 12.

I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, and I thought about not telling anybody. I thought about trying to do this without anybody knowing, because I don’t like making things about me. But there are going to be days I’m not going to be able to be here because I’m undergoing treatment or I’m reacting to treatment, and I know that that would inspire all kinds of curiosity. It’s not that I want to fool anybody. It’s just that I don’t want to burden anybody with it.

But it is what it is. You know me; I’m the Mayor of Realville. So this has happened, and my intention is to do my program as normally and as competently and as expertly as I do each and every day, because that is the source of my greatest satisfaction professionally, personally. I’ve had so much support from family and friends during this that it’s just been tremendous.

I have a deeply personal relationship with God. I do not proselytize. But I have been working that relationship tremendously — which I do regularly anyway. I’ve been focused on it intensely for the past couple of weeks.

I know there are many of you in this audience who have experienced this, who are going through it yourselves. I don’t want to get too detailed, but I am at the moment experiencing zero symptoms, other than shortness of breath that I thought might have been asthma or — I’m 69 — my heart. But my heart’s in great shape, ticking away fine, squeezing and pumping great. It was not that. It was a pulmonary problem involving malignancy.

I’m going to be here as often as I can. And, as is the case with everybody who finds themselves in this circumstance, you just want to push ahead and try to keep everything as normal as you can, which is something that I’m going to try to do. But I felt I had to tell you because that’s the kind of relationship I feel I have with you in this audience. I say it every Christmas, which is when I feel more thankful than at Thanksgiving. I feel thankful at Thanksgiving, but Christmas it really gets to me.

Over the years, a lot of people have been very nice, telling me how much this program has meant to them. But whatever that is, it pales in comparison to what you all have meant to me. I can’t describe this, but I know you’re there every day. I can see you. It’s strange how, but I know you’re there. I know you’re there in great numbers, and I know you understand everything I say. The rest of the world may not when they hear ideas expressed a different way, but I know you do. You’ve been one of the greatest sources of confidence that I’ve had in my life. So I hope I will be talking about this as little as necessary in the coming days.

We’ve got a great bunch of doctors, a great team assembled. We’re at full speed ahead. So I’ll be here as often as I can — and know that every day I’m not here, I’ll be thinking about you and missing you. Thank you very much.