Longtime New York City radio personality and 710 WOR host Barry Farber died in Manhattan Wednesday, one day after his 90th birthday.
Farber, originally from North Carolina, began his radio career in New York in 1960 and stayed on the air for almost six decades, with breaks in 1970 to run for U.S. Congress as a republican and in 1977 to run for mayor of New York.
Celia Farber, Barry's daughter, confirmed his death, explaining that he had been losing weight after a series of surgeries. He also fractured a rib while moving to a new apartment last month from his longtime West Side home.
At one point, Barry's programs — including his live broadcasts, as well as taped and repeated segments — occupied a quarter of the weekly airtime on WOR.
Barry often said he was set apart from other radio hosts because his goal was not to self-aggrandize but only to stimulate genuine conversations.
Referring in his memoir to his provocative late-night program, Barry wrote, "I was told I kept more people up nights than Mexican food."
He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2014.
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