Jim Quinn

Jim Quinn
Jim Quinn MC'ing at a Pittsburgh Tax Day Tea Party
Born	(1943-02-26) February 26, 1943 New Jersey
Show	Quinn in the Morning
Station(s)	WYSL, WCNS
Time slot	Weekdays, 6am to 9am EST
Country	USA
Previous show(s)	The War Room with Quinn and Rose
Website	www.Warroom.com

Jim Quinn (born February 26, 1943) is an American radio talk show host based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, currently hosting Quinn in the Morning on WYSL/Avon, New York and WCNS/Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Until its cancellation in November 2013, his program, The War Room with Quinn and Rose, was aired on 12 stations across the U.S. and was also heard on XM Satellite Radio Channel 244 from 6–9 a.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

Disc jockey and novelty host

Before beginning his political morning show, Quinn spent a number of years at KQV in the 1960s and 1970s, where he would befriend his eventual political mentor Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh worked at KQV and WIXZ/McKeesport, PA as a disc jockey under the name Jeff Christie.

Quinn is best remembered in the Pittsburgh area as the vociferous nighttime host on KQV radio in the 1960s, during the station's peak as a Top 40 power. Quinn was hired from WING/Dayton in 1967 and had an immediate impact on the market. In 1968, he jumped at an opportunity to take a job in Philadelphia, but was back at KQV in less than a year. He stayed until 1972, then spent time in New York City at WPIX-FM.^[1]

He then moved to Buffalo, New York where in the late 1970s he became known to listeners throughout the northeast on WWKB (WKBW at the time), a 50,000 watt station that took requests from as far away as Norway.^[2] Quinn's final hour included a trivia game called "Stump The Audience," where the answers had been kept "in a sealed envelope on Funk and Wagnalls' doorstep since noon today." In an emotional farewell as he returned to Pittsburgh, Quinn said, "May I get lockjaw if I ever forget how much I appreciate the people who listen."

A Pittsburgh station, 13Q or WKTQ, lured him back in 1977 to capture the adults who had grown up listening to him on KQV. During his tenure at 13Q, Quinn issued a parody 45-record of the then Top 40 hit "Undercover Angel" entitled "Undercover Pothole"; the parody lamented the atrocious condition of Pittsburgh roads during that period of time. Quinn later moved to the midday slot at WTAE radio, an adult contemporary station in Pittsburgh, under the aegis of General Manager, Ted Atkins ("Captain Showbiz"). In 1983, he became half of "The Quinn and Banana Show" on B-94 FM, which ran in Pittsburgh, PA, until 1993. Their format was bathroom humor. After a course of conduct, wherein they implied that News Director Liz Randolph was promiscuous, she sued the station and Quinn and Banana for defamation and sexual harassment. On Valentine's Day, 1990, Ms. Randolph won on all counts, and a jury awarded her $694,000. Three years later, his FM morning show was canceled. Quinn largely credits this lawsuit with "opening his eyes" and inducing his conversion to political conservatism.

Talk show host

After Quinn's program was canceled on B-94, he adopted his current political talk format, a conservative talk radio program. The program was moved to WPGB radio in 2004 when that station adopted an all talk format. By 2008, Quinn's extreme language had earned him notoriety; for example, the Bill Moyers Journal on PBS noted he regularly refers to the National Organization for Women as the "National Organization for Whores."^[3] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that as of Monday, 11/18/13 Quinn has been dumped from the WPGB lineup.

Quinn is a proponent of a constitutional government that adheres to the guiding principles of the nation's founders. He champions a smaller federal government and free markets. He regularly equates modern Left Liberalism (not classical liberalism) with Marxism. He commonly refers to "Quinn's Laws," a collection of statements that sum up his world view, such as "Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent" (i.e., the War on Poverty has led to even greater poverty)." ^[4] He also has many personal views he is fond of voicing, such as "liberty is the solution to the human condition".

The show, broadcast with co-host Rose Somma Tennent (aka "Radio Rose"), aired live weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST on certain affiliates and on XM Satellite Radio Channel 244; others replay the first hour after 9. It can be heard worldwide on the Internet via ^[5] Quinn's radio show abruptly ended in a contract dispute with Clear Channel radio in November 2013.^[6]

Quinn authored a so-called "liberal version" of The Ant and the Grasshopper in 1994.^[7]

After unsuccessfully negotiating to bring his show to WJAS in Pittsburgh (the station that picked up most of WPGB's lineup after a format change), Quinn agreed to resume his morning show on one of his former affiliates, WYSL, a station located outside of Rochester, New York.^[8]

References

• WRRK morning host points to lawsuit as turning point in philosophy, career by Dmitri Vassilaros in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review