R.I.P.: Former KSTP Talk Show Host Barbara Carlson

Barbara Carlson

The former Minneapolis City Council member and flamboyant KSTP Radio talk show host  Barbara Carlson died Monday after a long battle with lung cancer, surrounded by her two children as well as other relatives, according to a post on her CaringBridge site from her daughter.

She was 80, according to to TwinCities.com

“(We) told stories, laughed and wrapped her in love until she took her last breath,” the post said. “It was so peaceful and heartbreaking at the same time.”

Those who memorialized Carlson in comments described her as “wickedly funny,” a “feisty spirit” with a “saucy tongue” who was known for her impeccable style — she always had a string of pearls around her neck — and outspoken, outrageous, nature.

Carlson, who described herself as a conservative, was a two-term member of the Minneapolis City Council in the 1980s and was the first wife of former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson.

The two married in 1965 when Arne Carlson was a rising politician in Minnesota but divorced in the late 1970s after having two children, Tucker and Anne Carlson. Arne Carlson was elected governor of Minnesota in 1991 and served two terms.

After losing her seat on the Minneapolis City Council in the late 1980s, Carlson went on to host “Barbara Carlson and Friends” for many years on KSTP 1500 AM, a show she sometimes famously conducted from inside a hot tub.

Carlson married her second husband — Martin Anderson — in the 1980s. The two divorced several years later.