KDKA Radio's Cigna Dies At 75

John Cigna loved having fun and, as he often put it, "yanking people's chains."

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C. John Cigna, a Shaler resident and longtime KDKA radio host whose spaghetti breakfasts became as much a Pittsburgh legend as his April Fool's Day broadcasts about spaceships landing in North Park and alligators roaming the city sewers, died on Friday. He was 75, according to a story by Michael Hasch at pittsburghlive.com.

Cigna had been suffering from emphysema and the effects of a stroke. His four sons were at his bedside when he died at the Vincentian Home in McCandless.

"What I remember most about John is that he was full of life. He loved to be on the air, he loved to entertain, he loved to have fun and, as he put it, 'yank people's chains,' " said Michael Young, CBS Radio senior vice president and Pittsburgh Market manager. "For three decades on the air, people laughed at him, probably yelled at him, and appreciated the information he gave them."

Both Young and KDKA radio talk show host Mike Pintek called Cigna "an icon. A Pittsburgh icon."

"John was a legend. It's kinda like the end of an era of broadcasting in Pittsburgh," Pintek said.

Cigna's son Tony said simply: "Dad really loves Pittsburgh. We came here in '69 and found a home. It's been a wonderful ride."

Pintek called Cigna a "master" of the airwaves.



"Radio's an intimate medium. When you are on the radio, it's one person talking to you personally in your living room or your car. That was what John mastered. He was able to communicate and connect with you as an individual. He was a genuine human being and a nice guy at heart, an entertainer and a listener's friend," Pintek said.



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