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Ron Smith

D

DToTheJ

Walk of Fame Participant
Recently, the longtime WBAL host was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Stage 4. (Trust me - as someone who lost a person very close to him due to this disease, I can understand how devastating this must be.) Yet Ron vowed that he'd soldier on while undergoing treatment.

DCRTV.com has an item today that Ron's wife posted a blurb informing listeners that Ron would make an announcement this morning on his WBAL program. DCRTV speculates that he's giving up his radio program. The wife also ended the note with "we are at peace" - which is not a good sign.

Ron Smith is WBAL. Just Google "WBAL" and his show page is the third result.

Listen live:
http://www.wbal.com/listen/live.asp
 
One of the things that stood out in the article was when Ron admitted that "politics doesn't interest me at all anymore." Granted, it takes a huge back seat to something like what he's battling right now.

Godspeed.
 
He's definitely one of the good guys for sure. He'll stay healthier and stronger longer at home too.
 
DCRTV now reports that on Monday morning, a mere five minutes before his show would start, Ron phoned into WBAL and retired on the air. DCRTV also notes that Ron is currently receiving home hospice care, so this looks like it's the end.

I would think WBAL would have the good sense to wait until at least after the new year to name a new 9 AM host.
 
DtotheJ, it isn't the end until the last breath, and then it isn't the end. As long as the hospice care is decent people can live, and some have lived, a couple of years admitted to home hospice. It is more about the comfort, love and care provided by caregivers.

He retired, plain and simple. People tend to go home and retire, you know. He did not necessarily retire because it is the end, but rather to live and love the way he wants to live and love...to be with the beautiful, full of life and full of love little girl he fell in love with so long ago. They have cared for one another for a very long time, and it all counts.

That said, there are an inordinate number of people leaving the planet over the past couple of years. Just pointing that out.
 
Make no mistake - I am not "burying anyone alive," by any means. But I can tell you from personal experience (my father - who actually died eight years ago this week) that pancreatic cancer is just awful. And Ron himself admitted that he no longer has the strength to do his show. Add that to his wife publicly saying "we are at peace" and... well, I'll quit while I'm ahead. But the Smiths are surely in my prayers.
 
Understood. Cancer is awful, and that is an understatement. "We are at peace" could be construed to mean that Mrs. Smith understands that her husband will be happier and stay healthier longer with the decision he took to refuse further treatment but comfort. It is certainly something for family members to come to grips with.

DToTheJ said:
DCRTV also notes that Ron is currently receiving home hospice care, so this looks like it's the end.
Click to expand...

Home hospice care is different than The Hemlock Society...just sayin' is all. A great deal has changed in 8 years, although cancer being awful has not changed. Palliative care is such that some people never even break the seal on their comfort paks, and never even have narcotic pain medication. They eat well, sleep for the most part, go out and do things with their families. Nature's way of giving them time to enjoy life a bit. It does not mean they are Superman, but they are able to function and remain lucid, pain free, right up to that last breath. It also does not mean that there are round the clock nurses. They show up as needed, or once every other week.

As for "it's the end", every 60 days a hospice physician or nurse practitioner recertifies the patient as qualified to continue as a hospice patient. I know of a person who had to be discharged from hospice care at the end of two years with cancer. He refused treatment and took such good care of himself with exercise and diet, that the cancer was held at bay.
 
Ron Smith was one of the best talk hosts (syndicated or local) ever to grace the airwaves in the Baltimore-Washington areas. He was always a very well read individual who kept abreast of many diverse topics. Even before the days when information-based talk radio became inundated with politics and current events, he always had interesting guests. For someone who only completed the 10th grade and never went onto college, I feel this speaks volumes.

He was an individual who while he had 'conservative' leanings, didn't always kowtow to the typical conservative dogma. He was his own individual. I, for one appreciated his pro-liberty stances on so many issues. Of course being a libertarian myself, I'm showing my bias. It was a breath of fresh air to hear someone advocate ending the war on drugs. Where I really give Ron credit is opposing the second Gulf war when the rest of the 'conservative' community was advocating for it! Even Neal Boortz (of WSB Atlanta) wouldn't take this stance! There are other issues as well. Whether or not you agreed with him, you had to respect the man.

The shoes that Ron left empty will not be easy to fill! I thank WBAL and Hearst Broadcasting for allowing this man to broadcast over their airwaves for the last 26 years entertaining and informing us. Godspeed Ron/Mr. Voice of Reason/Talk Show Man! We will miss you!
 
@Silkie: Thank you for the education.

@Klutch: With a quarter-century under his belt, Ron Smith's void is huge. Makes me wonder if WBAL will even try to replace his time slot with a new local host and perhaps settle for a syndicated host. Again - not burying someone alive... just speculating.
 
DToTheJ said:
@Silkie: Thank you for the education.

@Klutch: With a quarter-century under his belt, Ron Smith's void is huge. Makes me wonder if WBAL will even try to replace his time slot with a new local host and perhaps settle for a syndicated host. Again - not burying someone alive... just speculating.
Click to expand...
I've heard the sit-in host Marta do a pretty good job one day earlier this week. I just hope they won't go to a syndicated show.
 
They'll be fine. Ron is doing what he has always wanted to do, and now has some time to do it. There is no reason why anybody should put his or her own peace of mind and happiness on hold to appease or allow one to let the rats in the race use or otherwise trifle with their lives, or to continue putting up with anything they don't want to put up with, much much less where a terminal illness has been diagnosed. People who know who and what they are, and are comfortable in their own skin get it, especially once they pass that half century point.
 
DToTheJ said:
@Silkie: Thank you for the education.

@Klutch: With a quarter-century under his belt, Ron Smith's void is huge. Makes me wonder if WBAL will even try to replace his time slot with a new local host and perhaps settle for a syndicated host. Again - not burying someone alive... just speculating.
Click to expand...

WBAL, in fact, has been trying out hosts for a new 9pm-12mid talk show (which naturally would take a back seat while the Orioles play). They've been going more live-and-local than ever before, and I'd be surprised if they didn't go live in overnights one day.

As for the late morning, midday host "C4" (Clarence M. Mitchell, IV) would be a natural successor to Ron. But that's just it: a successor. There's no way in the world anyone could ever merely "replace" someone like Ron. He's as much a talk legend as Neil Boortz in Atlanta, Neil (God) Rogers in Miami, Gary Dee or John Lanigan in Cleveland, Bob Grant in New York, Micheal Jackson in Los Angeles... I could go on and on.
 
DToTheJ said:
Make no mistake - I am not "burying anyone alive," by any means. But I can tell you from personal experience (my father - who actually died eight years ago this week) that pancreatic cancer is just awful. And Ron himself admitted that he no longer has the strength to do his show. Add that to his wife publicly saying "we are at peace" and... well, I'll quit while I'm ahead. But the Smiths are surely in my prayers.
Click to expand...

Joe, I'm terribly sorry that happened to you and your family. The correlation between this news and your experience is terrible to even think about, let alone read.

To quote a popular Cleveland sportscaster who also succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2008, Ron "is rounding third and heading for home." And doing it with dignity and grace to boot. :'(
 
Re: Ron Smith, 1941-2011

Just discovered that Ron Smith has passed away. RIP, Voice of Reason, we'll miss you! :(
 
It can happen very fast and very suddenly (even knowing), as it obviously did. It is a hard thing when death visits your home, but especially this time of year.
 
i am so sad. he had such an aura on the radio. like or dislike his political views. the ultimate professional.
 
It's only fitting that the "Team Reason" fund set up for pancreatic cancer research (Ron didn't set it up himself; listeners did so with him in mind) reached the $10,000 mark around the time of his passing.
http://wbal.com/article/84583/2/template-story/Team-Reason-Reaches-Milestone

I would love to see WBAL do an annual on-air fundraiser for this disease, perhaps around this time every year.
 
Respectfully submitting that WBAL TV and radio are so left of Lenin that they are more busy whining about insignificant things.
 
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