Ian Punnett, Coast to Coast AM host, dies at 63

[KilowattKat]

A very emotional George Noory made the announcement at the beginning of tonight's show.

Ian Punnett March 3, 1960 - December 22, 2023 | Coast to Coast AM

It is with deep sadness that we share the news that Ian Punnett passed away from a brief illness yesterday. His keen intellect and delightful sense of humor will be deeply missed. Since 2000, Ian has, in various incarnations, been a valued host of Coast to Coast AM, including regular weekend...

www.coasttocoastam.com

 

[rickydradio]

This is Rick diLorenzo. I worked with Ian at WGST in Atlanta from 1997-2001.

I was given the opportunity first as producer of his evening show in 1998. When the show began to syndicate, I chose to move to the engineering side of the show. Sadly, the show was cancelled, but I retained my job. Because Ian was still under contract, he did fill ins on WGST and other stations around the country. He soon started doing Coast To Coast out of Atlanta in 2000 with his former producer, Keith Malinak as his local engineer and producer. Keith left very soon into Ian’s tenure on Coast to Coast to work with Glenn Beck. Ian came to me and asked if I wanted to replace Keith. I jumped at the chance. It practically became a full time job because Art Bell had health and family issues resulting in Ian doing the show as many as six times a week. We worked together on Coast until December 2001 when he decided to take a job as a local talk show host in Minneapolis.

We stayed in touch over the years and it was Ian who put in a good word for me in 2006 with Pete Spriggs at WSB to become Chris Krok’s producer. Chris was moving from Ian’s radio cluster in Minneapolis to Atlanta so he spoke to Chris as well and as a result I got the job which lasted nearly two years.

I moved on from radio, while Ian continued work in and out of radio and pursued his phd.

When moving in 2017, I found a bunch of Ian’s show notes I had kept along with a tape from one of his shows which I sent him.

He recently confided with me as to what was going on with him and to let our WGST alumni know. He didn’t want it publicly known, he just wanted it known to those we both treasured.

The world has lost not only a great broadcaster, but an even greater human in Case Ian Punnett.

 

[radiofan2023]

RIP Ian. He was a fantastic Coast to Coast host and also an advisor to the Kansas State University student radio station, Wildcat 91.9. There are some great pictures of his work with the station here and of his induction into the Kansas Association of Broadcasting Hall of Fame:

Media

The Kansas Association of Broadcasters honored Dr. Punnett aka this past week at the KAB Hall of Fame Dinner. Over the past 6 years Ian has helped lead Wildcat 91.9 to hundreds of student KAB awards,...

www.wildcat919.com

 

[Silkie]

A very emotional George Noory made the announcement at the beginning of tonight's show.

Ian Punnett March 3, 1960 - December 22, 2023 | Coast to Coast AM

It is with deep sadness that we share the news that Ian Punnett passed away from a brief illness yesterday. His keen intellect and delightful sense of humor will be deeply missed. Since 2000, Ian has, in various incarnations, been a valued host of Coast to Coast AM, including regular weekend...

www.coasttocoastam.com

He was also an ordained priest, if I recall correctly.

 

[boombox4]

I just heard about this last night on C2C, as it was mentioned in passing during the show. Very sad. Ian Punnett had a great, dry sense of humor and was a great substitute host on C2C. RIP.