My friend, Kenny B.

Kenny Burgamy and Ed Grisamore in WMAC-AM studio in December 2006 (photo by Brother Neal)

I am going to miss my friend, Kenny Burgamy, on the radio every morning.

Even when I was just able to catch him for a few minutes on the commute to work, it was worth it.

Kenny B. and I see eye-to-eye on just about everything. We share many of the same beliefs and philosophies. We have the same passion for what we do.

We have been friends for almost 20 years. One of our earliest associations came when I wrote a story about his father, the late Calvin “Pop” Burgamy, who gained fame on the city’s baseball and softball fields.

I was in the studio with Kenny (and co-host Jim Jones) when they debuted with a sports talk show called “The Locker Room” on WMAZ-AM in 1991. And the three of us made several trips together when the Atlanta Braves started making their way to the playoffs and World Series in the early 1990s.

Kenny always kept his hand in sports programming, but eventually broke away to start doing the early morning talk show – first with the Telegraph’s own Charles E. Richardson and then with Jami Gaudet.

Once, when I interviewed Kenny for a column, I asked if he had always been a staunch Republican. He admitted that during the Presidential election in 1984, in a moment of weakness, he had actually voted for Michael Dukakis. Not too many people know that, but I have never stopped teasing him about it.

Another little known fact about Kenny is that city councilman Ed DeFore is one of his uncles.
Kenny has had me as a guest on his show dozens of times over the years to talk about local events and issues. I’m very grateful he has allowed me to weigh in on the dialogue of the day.

I will never forget the trip Kenny and I took with Jim Jones and Ben Sandifer to Mount Airy, N.C. -- the hometown of Andy Griffith -- for the annual “Mayberry Days” in October 2000. We rode up in an RV and spent two nights in a motor court motel where the proprietor insisted we call her “Aunt Bee.’’

I know leaving the airwaves has not been an easy decision for Kenny. But he believes it’s in the best interest for him and his family, and I’m happy for him.