R.I.P.: Jay Severin, Longtime Boston Radio Talk Host

Jay Severin

Longtime conservative political operative, civics connoisseur, and radio personality Jay Severin has passed away after battling cancer. He was 69, according to The Blaze.

Severin became a giant force in political talk in New England before spending years as a host on TheBlaze Radio Network's national platform.

"Jay was one of the rare talents that could not only see beyond the headline, but had the empathy to understand how it affected the listener," Glenn Beck told TheBlaze. "He was a good man, and I'm a better one for having known him."

Tom Shattuck, podcaster and senior editor of the Lowell Sun, paid tribute to Severin after news broke of his death on Thursday, calling him "the Boston talk titan."

"This was a guy who liked free speech and was not afraid to push the boundaries," Shattuck said of Severin, adding, "He made a difference...he was powerful, he was loud, he was poetic in the way he spoke, and he's going to be missed."

Severin was known for being fearless, a trait that he admitted sometimes got him into trouble.

Jay Severin passed away this week. He did me one of the biggest favors of anyone in my professional life: He's the reason I came to Boston.

It took me a while to discover New England, but once I got here, I knew it was the place I wanted to call home.

Thanks, Jay. pic.twitter.com/2AX3ObzINU

— ConservativeNotCrazy (@IAMMGraham) July 9, 2020

Michael Graham, a colleague of Severin's from WTTK-FM, said of the late host, "What's fascinating to me is the number of people who say, 'I became a conservative because of Jay Severin'" surrounded by the liberal environment in Boston. He added, "That's his legacy—his civics lesson on the air, that nobody can take away from him."