R.I.P.: EIB Producer 'Kit' Carson Dies From Cancer

Kit Carson

Christopher Carson, the first staff member of the Rush Limbaugh Show, died of brain cancer, the radio host announced at the top of his nationally syndicated radio show on Monday.

He was 56, according to Rush Limbaugh.

Referred to by Rush Limbaugh on air sometimes as "Kit Carson" and other times as "H.R.," a nod to former White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman under President Richard Nixon, Carson joined the show nearly 27 years ago to screen phone calls and answer mail.

Carson eventually became producer of the show, though he was usually referred to by Limbaugh as the "chief of staff."

Carson grew up in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and wanted to become an actor. He was tall with reddish hair and Japanese tourists occasionally mistook him for Conan O'Brien, Limbaugh said on his show Monday.

He was working for a magazine in New York in the same building that Limbaugh's syndicator was located when he was offered a job on Limbaugh's show, radio executive Kraig Kitchin told the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel on Monday.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Carson was diagnosed with cancer four years ago. It was in remission two years ago but it returned in the fall. He died Monday morning at his home in New Jersey, Limbaugh said on his show Monday.

He is survived by a wife and two sons.

During his Monday radio show, Rush Limbaugh delivered a heartfelt message in memory of Carson:

“We all here at the EIB Network are experiencing a huge void in all of our hearts here today because of a death, one of our staff members, the very first staff member to join me 27 years ago in New York,” Limbaugh began. “Christopher Carson, ‘Kit,’ my trusted chief of staff, aide-de-camp, passed away today at 8 a.m. at his home in New Jersey after what really was a four-year battle, really valiant, never-seen-anything-like-it battle with essentially brain cancer. He thought that it was beaten back two years ago, but it came back again last fall with a vengeance.”