Tag: Alzheimer’s disease

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Tom Barnard Announces Alhzeimer’s Diagnosis

By Editor | by Editor

Legendary Twin Cities radio personality Tom Barnard announces to his podcast audience that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The former morning host on rock KQRS-FM, Minneapolis has beenimg hosting “The Tom Barnard Podcast” since leaving the station in December of 2022. On the podcast, Barnard was joined by family members including his wife and podcast co-host Kathryn Brandt who said they began to have concerns about Barnard’s health shortly after he retired from KQRS. Barnard says he’s been undergoing treatment that has had a positive effect on him, but he acknowledges that there is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s.

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Philadelphia Talk Host Mary Mason Dies at 94

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

Philadelphia talk radio veteran Mary Mason died on July 25 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Mason, a.k.a. Beatrice Turner, was a pioneering talk host in the urban talk radio format when she transitioned from a Gospel music host – beginning in 1958 – to anchor of the “Mornings with Mary” program on WHAT, Philadelphia in 1970. Thera Martin was Mason’s former program director at WHAT and tells WPVI-TV, “Reverend Louise Williams Bishop and Mary Mason are the two African American women who really broke the barrier in Philadelphia radio for us to come behind them. People used to hang onto her every word, every morning, with her very popular radio show.” The story notes that “the show catapulted Mason’s career, leading her to interviews with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and Oprah.” See the WPVI-TV story here.