THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508220320
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
L. Douglas Wilder, former Virginia governor and onetime presidential candidate who was part of a wave of unemployed politicians who started radio talk shows this year, on Monday canceled his program. The show had never made money or found a national audience.
Wilder, who in 1989 became the first black to be elected governor of any state, began the show in January and will have his last broadcast Aug. 31. The two-hour show was heard each weekday morning on eight Virginia stations and one each in Washington and Baltimore.
Wilder, 64, gleefully needled and grilled such guests as Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala and musician Bruce Hornsby. Callers asked about issues ranging from race relations to soil problems.
In an interview with The Virginian-Pilot last spring, Wilder had described the switch from politician to radio personality as ``liberating,'' adding: ``I'm free. I can tell people, `Listen, I disagree with you; you're dead wrong.' ''
In ending the show Monday, he cited ``excessive demands on his time.'' He is scheduled to teach classes at two universities this fall, for which he will receive more than $50,000. by CNB