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Mike Kavanagh has died

M

MCMagicCracker

I'm shocked and sad to report that one of my radio mentors, WSB's former Atlanta's Evening News anchor and longtime host of Money Matters, Mike Kavanagh, has died.
 
What a great loss to Atlanta broadcasting. Not only was Mike a consumate professional, but he was also truly of the nice guys in our business. My first job in Atlanta back in 1996 was producing Atlanta's Afternoon News with Mike and Lisa Campbell. I know I speak for the entire WSB Radio family when I say there will never be another Mike Kavanagh.
 
I can't find a single thing about this anywhere on the web, including WSB's site. Can you provide any more details? If this is true, I'm as shocked and saddened as I'm sure any of us in the industry would be, and are.
 
I just listened the a couple f weekends ago and he was giving a speech that almost made it sound like it was one of his last shows but then wrapped it up as saying he hoped to continue as long as he had been on air which I believe coincide with say his 20th or 25th anniversary. There was something odd about his ramblings. Now it seems almost eerie. Great guy and I loved listening to him. RIP.
 
Stunned and saddened. Also a downer that he passed on his birthday. Anyone lucky enough to be a friend of his knows how generous Mike was with his time and his care. He was a terrific mentor, a trusted coworker, and an incredible mind on personal finance and consumer empowerment. He was also a fantastic ambassador for WSB. In 11 years working there, I would hold up Mike alongside Clark Howard as the two true standard bearers of integrity for WSB.

For the official historian, WSB = We're Sad Brother

Mike, we already miss you.
 
As there has been no confirmation of this story on the WSB news breaks, I was
hopeful it was in error. It's finally been confirmed on the 9:00 AM news.

"He died suddenly at his home in Atlanta".

As he was a perennial "bull" on the markets, I'd think the stress of the recent
drastic declines would have weighed heavily on him and we all know that
stress can contributed to cardiac problems.
 
I worked with Mike for several years, and also continued a friendship with him in subsequent years. As everyone who knew him has said (and will say in subsequent days), Mike was truly the consummate professional, and one of the last of the "old school" Edward R. Murrow-style journalists. The big, booming voice, the responsible and thorough pen, and near if not total on-air perfection. The man simply did not make mistakes on the air. And not only was Mike a fantastic broadcaster, he was an excellent financial planner, to boot!

All of that aside, though, much more importantly, Mike was such a caring, compassionate man. You could hear it on the air, and it simply absorbed you off the air when around him.

You may not know that Mike had recently been working on the production and distribution of his own program celebrating folk music, which was a dear passion of his. He had actually begun to produce it, and picked up carriage on several public radio stations, if I'm not mistaken.

My thoughts are with his family, who I never had the pleasure of meeting, as well as his many colleagues, many of which I did.
 
I am deeply moved and saddened. I worked for Cox Atlanta(WBTS) starting in January 2001, and, from the moment stepped on the WSB premises, Mike was one of the most friendly, kind and helpful people I worked with and around(and there were many at WSB). He didn't have to pay attention to a new guy that worked at the station up the hall, but he did. There were so many in that newsroom that were quality people, not to mention quality news people, and Mike was one of the best. Thank you for all of your help, Mike, especially since it wasn't incumbent upon you to do so.
 
A truly great on-air talent with an encyclopedic financial mind, who also seemed to be a genuinely nice guy. This is most unfortunate and my condolences go out to his family and friends. On the plus side, I bet he had great life insurance.
 
Wow. What a shocker. Sunday mornings will never be the same. He always was able to make the stock market and "Money Matters" interesting and informative. He also had a great respect for the legacy of the radio station he was on. I hope someone will be able to keep his website going. I've learned a lot about WSB's history from him. He also seemed to have a very kind heart and he was always talking about a worthwhile cause at the beginning of his show. For example I know he would have talked about the Breakfast with Santa Claus for charity and Clark's Christmas Kids.

Mike will be missed and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family and colleagues.
 
I am really stunned and saddened. John Long's email to GHROF members said Mike resigned from that organization's board in September for health reasons. I was unaware that Mike had health problems.

I got to know Mike and tremendously valued that relationship. The way I got to know him was sort of funny. I was writing an online Atlanta radio column almost 10 years ago, and Mike started sending me an email as soon as anything happened in the White Columns building. I knew before most of the staff. In the beginning, he would end his emails by telling me not to reveal that he was my source.

After I stopped writing the column, Mike continued to correspond and send me information to post on Radio-Info. Around 2004, I happened to be walking through the WSB newsroom en route to a meeting at the station, and I spotted Mike. I walked up to him and said, "If I called you Deepthroat, could you guess who I am?" He looked at me kind of puzzled but had a hearty laugh when I introduced myself. Since then I spoke with him in person a number of times.

One more thing: Mike was a truly objective person; in a sense he was always in character as a journalist. He's the one person I felt comfortable asking opinions on issues because he really was in the no-spin zone. He was a truly nice person and had a wealth of knowledge.

My prayers are with his family.
 
WSB always rises to the occasion in moments like this. During Mike's normal time slot today, they replayed his show from two weeks ago where he interviewed Santa Claus, and encouraged children to call in. This was a show Mike enjoyed more than any other each year, especially because it promotes his favorite cause, FODAC (Friends Of Disabled Adults and Children), and the annual Stone Mountain breakfast with Santa. Mark Arum did intros at the top and bottom, paying homage to Mike, and Marcy Williams filled the news casts solely with soundbites from those who knew and loved Mike. Then from 11-1, Ilyce Glink took calls from saddened, devoted listeners to Mike. I listened online, and was moved to tears several times. Ilyce had a difficult task just keeping it together - I wouldn't have been able to do it. Condace Pressley also wrote a nice tribute on the wsbradio.com site.

:'( :'( :'(

He'll be missed.
 
Mike Kavanagh was a nice man,he almost reminds you of your grandpa, always pleasant and smiling. I always remember when the Nascar race was at Atlanta Motor Speedway he would let Captin Herb use his time slot to broadcast live frome the track. As a race fan Iu really appreciate that.
 
I got to meet Mike last year at the Atlanta Writers' Club. He made a presentation and it was full of great stories about his long and varied career. Then afterward he talked at great length one-on-one with any and all who wanted to ask a question (both broadcasting and financial) or just to say hi. I enjoyed his speech and the one-on-one equally...He was a great guy.

My heart goes out to his families (blood, WSB and financial). He was a real treasure.
 
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