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Alan Berg was born in Chicago in January of 1934, the son of Dr. Joseph Berg and Ruth Berg. Alan had one older sister, Norma. At 17, he attended college at the University of Colorado in Denver. After two years, he transferred to the University of Denver. He graduated in 1957, and became one of the youngest people to pass the bar exam in the history of Illinois (at 22). He first met his wife, Judith Halpern in 1951, and the two were married in 1958. Berg began his career as a law clerk before finally becoming a lawyer. Because he was overworked (and because he was suffering from seizures), he became an alcoholic. The pressure finally became too great, and he left his law practice in Chicago and moved to Denver with his wife. He entered St. Joseph's Hospital to quit drinking, and never took another in his life. He then became a shoe salesman. He later opened his own clothing store, The Shirt Broker. It was there that he met Laurence Gross, a Talk Show host with KGMC. He admired the fact that Berg could talk spontaneously on any subject, and invited him to be on his show several times. After Gross moved to San Diego, Berg was given his show. he soon began to hang up on people, insult them over the air, and generally be outrageous. In 1976, he suffered a seizure that he was unable to come out of. It was discovered that he had a large brain tumor. He had surgery to remove it, and soon recovered and was back on the radio. He left KGMC (now called KWBZ), and got a job at KHOW, where he reached the apex of hanging up. He and Judith were divorced in 1978. While at KHOW, Berg became both the most popular (and most disliked) radio personality in Denver. After refusing to conform to the station, he was fired from KHOW in August of 1979. He returned to KWBZ. After they changed their format to music, Berg was again out of a job. KTOK, an Oklahoma City based station, became interested in Berg. before he accepted the job, he was offered to fill in at Denver's most powerful station, KOA. About half the callers wanted him hired, and the other half did not. He signed a contract with Detroit's WXYZ, but later dropped out of it when KOA offered him a show. He began on February 23, 1981. He than began to change, his rudeness waning. After receiving a flap from former Secretary of State Ellen Kaplan, he invited her on the show and berated her. KOA, fearing a lawsuit, gave Berg a few days vacation. Berg was never blatantly abusive to another guest. After criticizing Roderick Elliot and Frank "Bud" Farell, who wrote "The Death of the White Race" and "Open Letter to the Gentiles," the white supremacist group known as "The Order" began to view him as a threat. After harassing Colonel Jack Mohr, a member of the Christian Patriots Defense League, Berg became a target. While most of his friends and associates said he was mellowing out, sadly we will never know. Alan Berg was shot 12 times in the face and body while exiting his Volkswagen. He was officially pronounced dead at 9:45 p.m. on June 18th, 1984.

If you have a chance to be on [the radio], why not enjoy it? It&#39;s all
going to end one day. There&#39;s nobody who ever entertained who didn&#39;t
finally have his career one day cut short. It&#39;s gonna happen to me.

I&#39;m an outlet for frustration. I&#39;m a focal point for them to dislike
something other than what they, in fact, dislike....It&#39;s always someone
else&#39;s fault, not theirs. I&#39;ve never seen so many victims in my life
and I end up being the victim. I take all this heat and I&#39;m a nice
person.

If you challenge people&#39;s beliefs, it&#39;s like pulling the rug out from
under them.

Talk Radio is like Russian Roulette. When you press that button, you
don&#39;t know what will happen.

The worst call I&#39;ve ever received is when someone says, &#39;I agree with everything you say.&#39; I don&#39;t always agree with myself, so how can they?

Quotes

Alan Berg

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