Burns

Gene Burns, longtime KGO-AM host who was fired by that station last November in a cost-cutting purge, said Tuesday he suffered a stroke three months ago that has affected the speech center of his brain.

“I am enthusiastic and thankful for the progress I have made,” he said on the NewsTalk910 website. “Most days, I have speech therapy and visits from great friends and colleagues.”

Clear Channel’s KKSF-AM 910 hired Burns, 71, to do the afternoon drive shift in January, but he never made it on the air. Instead, various KGO personalities who were fired on the same day as Burns (John Rothmann, Gil Gross, Bill Wattenburg) along with those who left KGO earlier (Rosie Allen and Ed Baxter), have been filling in for Burns.

“Although I do not have a specific date for my return to the air, I listen each day to NewsTalk 910, giving me motivation to re-join the conversation about the issues of the day,” Burns said.

Burns, who has done talk radio in Philadelphia (WCAU-AM), Boston (WRKO) and New York (WOR), arrived at KGO in 1994. Adding a Libertarian voice to KGO, he held down the 7-10 p.m. slot. Here’s his online bio.