Monday, August 9, 2021

R.I.P.: Dick Farrel, Longtime SoFL Radio Talk Host

Dick Farrel
Dick Farrel, a longtime conservative radio host from West Palm Beach, Florida, who was a vocal opponent of the coronavirus vaccine and vehement critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci, died Aug. 4 of complications from COVID-19, according to WPTV. He was 65.

After calling Fauci a “power-tripping lying freak” and urging people not to get vaccinated as recently as June, Farrel changed his tune after contracting the virus himself and entering the hospital roughly three weeks ago.

“Covid Took One Of My Best Friends!” his friend Amy Leigh Hair wrote on Facebook. “He is the reason I took the shot! He texted me and told me to ‘Get it!; He told me that this virus is no joke and he said: ‘I wish I had gotten it!'”

A native of Queens, New York, who was born Farrel Austin Levitt, he got his start in New York radio before bouncing among stations in Florida. He also anchored for the right-wing news outlet Newsmax as a fill-in in 2018.

Mick McCabe, creative director of the radio broadcaster Hubbard South Florida, told WPTV, “Dick was a pioneer ‘shock talk’ host, certainly here in South Florida, and a loyal friend both personally and to listeners here for decades.”

An ardent supporter of Donald Trump, Farrel went full in on unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about election fraud earlier this year and questioned the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines developed during the Trump administration. According to the Daily Beast, he articulated many of his extreme opinions on a Facebook account that has since been made private.

Farel graduated from Queens College and went on to a lucrative career in radio. With his deep voice, Farrel did fill-in work at stations on Long Island before landing a job as morning man on WVIP FM Westchester, N. Y. After spinning records at WVIP for a number of years Farrel moved on to talk radio as the midday personality at WJNO West Palm Beach. Later on Farrel worked at a number of prominent Florida radio stations including WIOD in Miami, WPBR in Palm Beach, WJUP FM in Jupiter, WFLN in Arcadia. Farrel also served as an anchor on Newsmax TV and was the voice of many commercials he did for clients and ad agencies.

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