Barry Farber facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Barry Farber
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| Born | May 5, 1930 Baltimore, Maryland, US
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| Died | May 6, 2020 (aged 90) New York City, US
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| Children | 2 |
Barry Morton Farber (born May 5, 1930 – died May 6, 2020) was an American radio talk show host. He was also an author, a commentator, and loved learning languages. In 2002, a magazine called Talkers magazine said he was the 9th best radio talk show host ever. Barry Farber also wrote articles for famous newspapers and magazines. These included The New York Times, Reader's Digest, and The Washington Post. He was the dad of journalist Celia Farber and singer-songwriter Bibi Farber.
Contents
Barry Farber's Early Life and Language Skills
Growing Up and Discovering Languages
Barry Farber was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents, Sophie and Raymond Farber, worked in their family's clothing business. Barry grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and was Jewish.
In ninth grade, Barry almost failed Latin class. But that summer, he found a book to learn Mandarin Chinese. By chance, a trip to Miami Beach, Florida, put him near many Chinese navy sailors. They were there for training. Barry's Chinese skills quickly got much better!
When he went back to Greensboro, he taught himself Italian, Spanish, and French. He did this before summer ended. In high school, he took French and Spanish classes. He also learned Norwegian on his own. He finished high school in 1948.
Learning Languages Around the World
Barry then went to the University of North Carolina. There, he learned Russian. He went to a conference in Yugoslavia. He found that other Slavic languages were like Russian. He took a 16-day boat trip back to the U.S. with people from Yugoslavia. This helped him practice Serbo-Croatian. After covering the 1952 Summer Olympic Games, he learned Indonesian on another boat trip home.
In 1956, Barry was a newspaper reporter. The United States Air Force asked him to report on Hungarian refugees. These people were fleeing an uprising in Hungary. Barry later wrote that he met a Norwegian man, Thorvald Stoltenberg, in Austria. Barry impressed him by speaking Norwegian. This allowed Barry to join secret missions. They helped smuggle Hungarians into Austria.
Barry Farber knew more than 25 languages. He even wrote a book called How to Learn Any Language. It shared his way of learning languages by himself. His method used many ways to study. It also used memory tricks for words. He also suggested using "hidden moments" throughout the day to learn.
Barry liked to say he was a "student" of languages, not that he "spoke" them perfectly. He said he "dated" some languages and "married" others. "Dating" a language meant no grammar or writing system, like Bengali.
Besides Bengali, he studied many other languages. These included Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Bulgarian, and Korean. He could also speak and read some Albanian.
His book didn't list all 25 languages he studied. He said that in 1952, the U.S. Army tested him. He qualified for work in 14 different languages. He kept learning new words and phrases even later in life.
Barry Farber's Radio Career
Starting in Radio
Barry's radio journey began in New York City. He worked as a producer for a show called "Tex and Jinx." This show was live from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. It was on WNBC radio in the mid-1950s.
William Safire hired Barry as a producer. Soon, Barry got his own show on WINS radio.
His first talk show started in 1960. It was called Barry Farber’s WINS Open Mike. It was the only talk show on that rock and roll station. He later moved to WOR radio in 1962. Then he became an all-night host in 1967.
In 1977, a company called Kaiser Broadcasting started a weekly talk show with Barry. But it didn't last long.
Barry then joined WMCA radio for an afternoon talk show. This show lasted until 1989. That's when WMCA changed its radio style to Christian radio.
National Radio and Recognition
In 1990, Barry became a national talk-show host. He worked for the ABC Radio Network. They were trying to create many national talk shows. Later, ABC stopped this project. Barry, Michael Castello, and Alan Colmes started their own network called Daynet. He then joined Talk Radio Network. He worked there until 2017.
After that, Barry moved to CRN Digital Talk Radio Networks. He hosted a one-hour show there each weekday.
In the early 1970s, Barry was a journalism professor. He taught at St. John's University in New York. His former students often called his radio show. They shared kind words and memories.
On the radio, Barry was easy to recognize. He had a unique Southern accent. He spoke with strong feelings and used many words. He was also very quick-witted. Sponsors loved how he could do live commercials. He often made them up on the spot. He made products sound amazing. He always sounded like he truly believed in what he was selling.
In 1991, he was named "Talk Show Host of The Year." This award came from the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts.
In 2008, Barry married Sara Pentz. She was a television news reporter.
Barry Farber was added to the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2014.
Barry Farber's Political Ideas
Changing Views
When he was young, Barry loved Norway. He married a Norwegian woman named Ulla Fahre. He liked the idea of Social Democracy, which was popular there. In the 1960s, he spoke strongly against Soviet Communism. But he also praised Social Democracy. He hoped America would adopt it one day.
However, when the Social Democrats in Sweden faced losing an election, he started to rethink his beliefs. He then began to support economic ideas that are popular among conservatives in America.
Running for Office
Barry was once a Democrat. In 1970, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York City. He ran as a candidate for the Republican and Liberal parties. It was a tough race. His main opponent was Bella Abzug, who won.
In 1977, Barry left his radio career for a while. He ran for Mayor of New York City as the candidate for the Conservative party. He got almost as many votes as the Republican candidate. But he got far fewer votes than the winner, Democrat Ed Koch.
Barry Farber's Final Years
Barry Farber always said he would never fully stop broadcasting. He stayed active on his CRN show until the day before he died. He even appeared on his show to celebrate his 90th birthday. The next day, on May 6, 2020, Barry Farber passed away at his home. He had been in poor health after several falls.
Books by Barry Farber
- Making People Talk: You Can Turn Every Conversation into a Magic Moment (1987) ISBN: 0-688-01591-3
- How to Learn Any Language: Quickly, Easily, Inexpensively, Enjoyably and on Your Own (1991) ISBN: 0-8065-1271-7
- How to Not Make the Same Mistake Once (1999) ISBN: 1-56980-132-0
- Cocktails with Molotov: An Odyssey of Unlikely Detours (2012) ISBN: 978-1-936488-51-3
See also
- In Spanish: Barry Farber para niños
