Howie Carr
Howie Carr | |
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Born | Howard Louis Carr, Jr. January 17, 1952 |
Career | |
Style | Current events |
Country | United States |
Website | howiecarrshow.com |
Howard Louis[1][2] "Howie" Carr, Jr. (born January 17, 1952) is an American journalist, author, and conservative radio talk-show host based in Boston with a listening audience rooted in New England.
Career
Broadcasting
Howie Carr has hosted a weekday radio talk-show on Boston's WRKO (AM 680) since 1994. The show, titled The Howie Carr Show, is syndicated to stations throughout northern and central New England and can be heard elsewhere via live streaming on WRKO's official website. Carr's relationship with the syndicator, Entercom Communications, has been stormy. Starting November 17, 2014, the show will be produced by Money Matters Radio and syndicated by Global Media. WRKO announced they will not carry the show. [3]
Carr has filled in for several nationally-syndicated talk show hosts, including Mark Levin and Dennis Miller.
Carr has worked as a reporter and commentator for Boston television stations WGBH and WLVI.
Journalism
Carr is a columnist for the Boston Herald.
In early 2006, Carr also became a book author with the publication of his New York Times-rated best-selling book, The Brothers Bulger, about Billy Bulger and James "Whitey" Bulger, the later of whom was arrested in June 2013. Carr's second book, titled Hitman, was released in April 2011. About Johnny Martorano, the book also was rated a best-seller by the New York Times. A third book, titled Hard Knocks, was released in January 2012.
From 1980 to 1981, Carr was the Boston City Hall bureau chief of the Boston Herald American, and he later worked as the paper's State House bureau chief. As a political reporter for WNEV (now WHDH) in 1982, his coverage of then-mayor Kevin White was so relentless that after the mayor announced he wasn't running again, he told the Boston Globe that one of the things he enjoyed most about his impending retirement was not having Carr chase him around the city.
In 1985, Carr won the National Magazine Award, for Essays and Criticism. In television, he has been nominated for an Emmy Award. Carr played a radio show host in the 1998 John Travolta film, A Civil Action.
For years Carr has had a feud with former Boston Globe and Herald guest columnist Mike Barnicle, calling him a "hack" and saying he (Carr) wanted to be the Herald's "nonfiction columnist"[4] (Barnicle resigned from the Boston Globe over allegations of plagiarism and fabrication of stories.)[5]
A Boston Globe column by Steve Bailey stated that Carr gave out Barnicle's home phone number, an allegation Carr denies. Barnicle called Carr "a pathetic figure", and asked "Can you imagine being as consumed with envy and jealousy toward me for as long as it has consumed him?"[6]
In 1998, Don Imus said that Mrs. Carr was having an affair with boxer Riddick Bowe. Mrs. Carr retained professor Alan Dershowitz as her lawyer. The parties reached an undisclosed settlement. In a 2007 column, Carr alleged that Imus' statements were incited by Barnicle. According to Carr, Barnicle told Imus that Carr had said Imus "would die before his kid got out of high school". Carr denies having said this.[7]
In 2002, the Boston Herald and Carr were the subjects of a lawsuit by Superior Court Judge Ernest Murphy. The newspaper reported that Murphy had said of a fourteen-year-old rape victim: "She can't go through life as a victim. She's 14. She got raped. Tell her to get over it." He was also alleged to have said of a 79-year-old robbery victim: "I don't care if she's 109." Carr, in a front-page column on February 20, 2002, criticized Murphy as handing down lenient sentences in bail decisions in rape cases and included references to his daughters, wondering what Murphy would do if it was one of his offspring that had been the victim. Murphy denied all of the allegations and claimed the newspaper libeled him, ruining his physical and emotional health and damaging his career and reputation as a good man. Ultimately, Murphy won the suit, proving the libel, and was awarded a $2.09 million payment. During the trial, when asked what his reaction was to the Carr column, Murphy had said he "wanted to kill him".[8]
Following the lawsuit, the Boston Herald reported Murphy's letter and a demand for $3.26 million (the court award, plus pre- and post-judgment interest) in its headlines because it was written on official court stationery. The libel case was based on his actions as a judge and therefore the Bar Association, when contacted by the media, stated that since it was his actions as a public official that were at the heart of the libel, it was appropriate for him to use the stationery.[9]
Personal life
Carr was born in Portland, Maine to Frances Stokes Sutton and Howard Louis Carr, Sr. Howard Louis Carr, Sr. died on October 1, 2008 at the age of 103.[1]
Carr attended Deerfield Academy, a boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). At UNC, Carr was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and wrote at student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel.[10][11]
Carr's first marriage produced two daughters. Since 1993, Carr has lived in Wellesley, Massachusetts with his second wife, Kathy, and their three daughters: Carolyn (born 1994), Charlotte (born 1994), and Christina (born 1997).[11]
In March 2007, Carr had a melanoma removed from his forehead.[12]
On July 10, 2009, Carr underwent hip replacement surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Although Carr was supposed to be off the air for several weeks, he was able to "call in" and begin the show as if he were in the studio, although he was actually still in bed at Mass General. More recently, Carr has undergone cosmetic surgery, including liposuction, hair restoration, and varicose vein removal, apparently for promotional consideration.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/2006-03-04_-_Wellesley_-_Howie_Carr_Book_Signing_%281%29.jpg/220px-2006-03-04_-_Wellesley_-_Howie_Carr_Book_Signing_%281%29.jpg)
Awards and recognition
- Placed 57th on Talkers Magazine's list of the 2014 "Heavy Hundred".[13] The list ranks talk-show hosts from around the U.S. whom this trade journal considers the most popular, influential, or entertaining. Carr has been in this list since 2007,[14] falling to 56th in 2009.
- Was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2008.[15]
Bibliography
Non-fiction
- The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century, New York: Warner Books, 2006 (ISBN 0-446-57651-4).
- Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano: Whitey Bulger's Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld, New York: Forge Books, 2011 (ISBN 0-765-32639-6).
- Rifleman: The Untold Story of Stevie Flemmi, Frandel LLC, 2013 (ISBN 0986037206).
In late 2013, Carr is to self-publish Ratman: The Trial And Conviction of Whitey Bulger.
Fiction
- Hard Knocks, New York: Forge Books, 2012 (ISBN 076532640X).
Filmography
- A Civil Action (1998): The film is based on the real-life case of Anderson v. Cryovac that took place in Woburn, Massachusetts in the 1980s. Howie played a radio talk show host.
References
- ^ "Howard Louis "Del" Carr Sr." - News-Record.com
- ^ In the taped introduction to Carr's radio show, voiceover artist Dana Hersey misstates Carr's middle name as Lawrence.
- ^ http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2014/11/12/howie-carr-done-wrko/MOMHe0yzDSFNPKE6N10dXJ/story.html Howie Carr Done at WRKO
- ^ Barnicle's comments re Howie Carr
- ^ "Boston.com / Latest News / Region". The Boston Globe.
- ^ Barnicle's comments on Howie Carr
- ^ Howie Carr (2007-04-12). "Imus' demise no surprise". Boston Herald.
- ^ Judge Murphy libel case
- ^ Judge Murphy's libel case
- ^ "Howie Carr". American Entertainment International Speakers Bureau. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ a b Hansmire, Suzanne (Fall 2006). "An interview with Howie Carr". Wellesley Weston. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ "For 'RKO hosts, on-air fight leads to off-air laughs" – Boston Globe, March 7, 2007
- ^ "2014 Heavy Hundred". Talkers Magazine. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
- ^ Simon, Clea (2007-03-02). "Area talk hosts among biz's". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
- ^ "National Radio Hall of Fame Announces 2008 Inductees". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
External links
- 1952 births
- Living people
- American essayists
- American non-fiction crime writers
- American talk radio hosts
- National Radio Hall of Fame inductees
- People from Portland, Maine
- People from Wellesley, Massachusetts
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
- Deerfield Academy alumni
- American journalists
- Radio personalities from Boston, Massachusetts
- Writers from Maine
- Writers from Massachusetts