Ex-Pittsburgh AM talk host Doug Hoerth dead at 66

[RamboLiberal]

BELLEVUE, Pa. (AP) — Former veteran AM radio talk show host Doug Hoerth (HERTH) has been found dead in his Pittsburgh-area home. He was 66.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner says police found Hoerth's body Tuesday night after they were called because his mail accumulated outside his Bellevue home.

Hoerth worked for six different AM stations after coming to Pittsburgh in 1980. He last appeared on WPTT from 1999 until December 2007, when he quit the business after his contract wasn't renewed.

Known as "Uncle Douggie," Hoerth's shows were an eclectic mix of talk, celebrity news and interviews, current events and vaudevillian humor.

http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/ex-pittsburgh-am-talk-host-doug-hoerth-dead-at-66/9200bd9c3dd448b68b43dd96476da1ae

RIP Uncle Dougie. I would turn him off on WPTT when he got into his Bush war supporting mode, but just doing regular talk Uncle Dougie was fun to listen to. His riffs with his late producer Laurence Gaines were classic. Sorry he passed away alone. Shame when he lost the gig on WPTT - but then talk radio for most of the last decade here in the Burgh has been a RW wasteland.

On edit: Lynn Cullen on KQV talking about Doug today. http://kqv.com/viewwirereadynews.asp?feed=http://kqv.com/wire/news/04993_Remembering_Uncle_Dougie_161900.xml

[Bunny]

1. That's a shame.

I always switched when he did that right-wing crap, but he was amusing when he talked about tv shows, current events, etc. Shame he's gone, sounds like he was a bit of a loner. RIP Uncle Dougie.

[robt6750]

4. +1.

[RamboLiberal]

2. Obituary: Doug Hoerth / Off-the-cuff 'Uncle Dougie' had 3-decade radio run in Pittsburgh

Doug Hoerth, a Pittsburgh radio talk show fixture for nearly three decades whose on-air "Uncle Dougie" persona regaled listeners with discussions, dissections and debates of pop culture, current events, the arcane, and the good, bad and ugly of his personal life, was found dead in his Bellevue apartment Tuesday evening. He was 66.

His body was discovered by Bellevue police, who were dispatched to check on his well being because Mr. Hoerth's former co-worker Phil Lenz couldn't reach him for about a week, although the two close friends usually talked every other day. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office ruled Wednesday that Mr. Hoerth died of natural causes.

Mr. Lenz and others who knew Mr. Hoerth said he had become unmoored, lonely and, in a way, had given up on life when he lost his last on-air job, at WPTT-AM, in December 2007. They said he further fell into depression in November 2009 upon the death of Laurence Gaines Jr., 43, his good friend, former producer and on-air sidekick at WTAE-AM from 1993 through 1998.

"The sad thing is that once he lost his radio show the last time and he knew he was not going to get back on the air, it broke his heart," said close friend Bill Zimpleman, who had known the broadcaster since shortly after Mr. Hoerth went on the air here in September 1980.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11027/1120914-122.stm#ixzz1CFZcue8z

[livetohike]

3. Very sad. I loved listening to him talk about music

I didn't agree with some of the other things he talked about, but he had a passion for his job and that came through. Lynn said some very nice things about him.

[wisteria]

5. How sad that he died along, and wanting to still work doing what he loved to do.

It is too bad he could not of found a radio station somewhere that would of still welcomed his kind of talk radio.

[livetohike]

7. Add Lynn Cullen to the list of "old pros" who deserve to

have a place in radio. It's sad that Pittsburgh stations are full of right wing nuts (except for Chris Moore).

[Bunny]

6. Tony Norman has a nice tribute in today's P-G:

For Uncle Dougie, the creek finally rose

If Doug Hoerth were around to hear the nice things being said about him now that he's gone, he would erupt with a cackle mixed with a phlegm-filled cough that would sound more like a chest cold than laughter.

"You know what?" he would say in a typical Doug Hoerthian way. "That and two wooden nickels might get me a cup of coffee."

That was "Uncle Dougie." He would say corny things like that all the time. He ended every show with: "See you next time, good Lord willing and the creek don't rise."

When he wasn't quoting scenes from "The Godfather" or quizzing his radio audience about rock 'n' roll minutiae or classic historical biographies, he was doing thoughtful, but irreverent, political commentary that annoyed folks of all persuasions.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11028/1121116-153.stm#ixzz1CL0PAFvi

[RamboLiberal]

8. Yes very nice column by Tony

Lynn had 2 great shows Thur & especially Friday with a lot of callers talking about Doug & his quirky shows. Podcasts can be found at Pittsburgh City Paper. http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/index

[MrMickeysMom]

10. Yes... Tony Norman remembered him best...

... I recall the talk radio format and the afternoon drive with Hearth. I can't say I agreed with him, but some of his schtick was classic. I was sad that he was alone and not to be called on again, because I sort of wondered, given his admitting his past, if he would fade away.

Now, we're left with nothing in the immediate area for talk, sans the internet. I think it's a shame that way so many other people think it's a shame where they are. The airwaves don't really belong to us anymore, do they?

[femmocrat]

9. So sad. I always listened to him.

I miss him and Lynn so much.