May 1998
Convention '98 snares top radio hosts
Gene Burns and "Lionel" added to speakers list
Two of the country's most popular libertarian radio talk show hosts have agreed to speak at the Libertarian National Convention, to be held in Washington DC, July 2-5, 1998.Gene Burns of KGO in San Francisco and Lionel of WABC in New York -- a pair of radio hosts whose styles and personalities are as different as their widely separated locations -- have been added to the growing list of Convention speakers.
"We're delighted that two of America's best libertarian communicators -- working in America's most influential medium, talk radio -- have agreed to share their views and wisdom at the convention," said Kris Williams, the LP Projects Manager who is coordinating the convention.
Burns and Lionel share a common belief in liberty and both make their living in radio, but the similarities stop there.
* Gene Burns is an afternoon host on San Francisco's powerhouse KGO, where he is renowned for his mellifluous voice and calm, erudite discussion of the "issues of the day."
A 30-year veteran of radio, Burns has broadcast in Florida, Massachusetts, and had a nationally syndicated show in the early '90s. While working at WRKO in Boston, he was named "Best Radio Talk Show Host In America."
Burns also has a Libertarian resume: He flirted with running for president on the LP ticket in 1984, and has spoken at numerous LP events across the USA.
* Lionel: If Gene Burns is the voice of reason, Lionel is the voice of "systematic chaos" -- which is how he describes his daily talk program on WABC in New York City.
Lionel (his radio nom de plume) made the leap into talk radio in Florida in 1988, when WFLA radio called him to offer him a job, based solely on Lionel's entertaining phone calls to call-in shows.
It took him just five years to get promoted to the nation's premier media market and land an afternoon show on WABC, where he is closing in on Howard Stern's ratings.
Lionel boasts that his show is "irreverent, atypical, non-conformist, and questioning" -- traits which he promises to have on display at the Convention.
Burns and Lionel are the latest additions to a rapidly growing all-star line-up of Convention '98 speakers, which also includes:
* Charles Murray, author of two of the most influential political books of his generation: What It Means to Be A Libertarian and Losing Ground.
* David Boaz,
Executive Vice President of the influential
Cato Institute, and author of Libertarianism: A Primer.
* Robert Poole, the man who founded the Reason Foundation and
whose book, Cutting Back City Hall, made the
concept of "privatization" an integral part of the USA's political debate.
