SEATTLE — The local broadcast community is mourning the death of Dori Monson, the conservative firebrand who hosted his show for 27 years on KIRO Radio.
Monson died on Saturday, two days after suffering a heart attack.
He was certainly unafraid to take on and disagree with politicians. Anybody who listened knows that was the case.
But Monson also had a different side, and his listeners on KIRO Newsradio certainly heard that, too.
Regular listeners to Dori Monson on KIRO Newsradio were delighted when he took on local liberals, as when he stepped into the political storm that was engulfing then-Seattle mayor Ed Murray.
“Well, there were four alleged child rape victims on June 29th,” insisted Monson in 2017. “Yesterday, there were five. Was that somehow the tipping point?”
But Monson had a gentler side, too.
There was the time when the widow of a devoted Seahawks fan asked him to take her husband’s remains to the team’s first-ever Super Bowl appearance.
“My first reaction was I’m not going to be toting human remains across the country to Detroit,” Monson said in 2006. “And then I started thinking about it, and it seemed like a really sweet request, and she loved her husband. And he was a huge fan.”
Monson was a devoted father to three daughters, even coaching the Shorecrest High School girls’ basketball team to the 2016 state championship. Indeed, those who knew him say he had two loves.
“All he cared about was the radio show,” said John Curley, a KIRO Newsradio host. “His family and radio.”
Curley led a daylong on-air tribute to the 61-year-old broadcaster on Monday.
He says Monson had been dealing with heart health issues, so his heart attack late last week, then his death on New Year’s Eve was not a complete surprise.
“Of course, the next reaction is that you feel for his family,” said Curley. “And then his listeners. And then you thank god that he wasn’t incapacitated where all of a sudden Dori wasn’t able to function as Dori.”
His death leaves behind a hole that won’t be easy to fill.
A spokesman for KIRO Newsradio says they will soon announce how they plan to fill Monson’s noon to 3 p.m. time slot.
Funeral arrangements are still being made.
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