Alan Berg(1934-1984)
Alan Berg was born in Chicago in January of 1934, the son of Dr. Joseph
Berg and Ruth Berg. Alan had one older sister, Norma. At 17, he
attended college at the University of Colorado in Denver. After two
years, he transferred to the University of Denver. He graduated in
1957, and became one of the youngest people to pass the bar exam in the
history of Illinois (at 22). He first met his wife, Judith Halpern in
1951, and the two were married in 1958. Berg began his career as a law
clerk before finally becoming a lawyer. Because he was overworked (and
because he was suffering from seizures), he became an alcoholic. The
pressure finally became too great, and he left his law practice in
Chicago and moved to Denver with his wife. He entered St. Joseph's
Hospital to quit drinking, and never took another in his life. He then
became a shoe salesman. He later opened his own clothing store, The
Shirt Broker. It was there that he met Laurence Gross, a Talk Show host
with KGMC. He admired the fact that Berg could talk spontaneously on any
subject, and invited him to be on his show several times. After Gross
moved to San Diego, Berg was given his show. he soon began to hang up
on people, insult them over the air, and generally be outrageous. In
1976, he suffered a seizure that he was unable to come out of. It was
discovered that he had a large brain tumor. He had surgery to remove
it, and soon recovered and was back on the radio. He left KGMC (now
called KWBZ), and got a job at KHOW, where he reached the apex of
hanging up. He and Judith were divorced in 1978. While at KHOW, Berg
became both the most popular (and most disliked) radio personality in
Denver. After refusing to conform to the station, he was fired from
KHOW in August of 1979. He returned to KWBZ. After they changed their
format to music, Berg was again out of a job. KTOK, an Oklahoma City
based station, became interested in Berg. before he accepted the job,
he was offered to fill in at Denver's most powerful station, KOA. About
half the callers wanted him hired, and the other half did not. He
signed a contract with Detroit's WXYZ, but later dropped out of it when
KOA offered him a show. He began on February 23, 1981. He than began to
change, his rudeness waning. After receiving a flap from former
Secretary of State Ellen Kaplan, he invited her on the show and berated
her. KOA, fearing a lawsuit, gave Berg a few days vacation. Berg was
never blatantly abusive to another guest. After criticizing Roderick
Elliot and Frank "Bud" Farell, who wrote "The Death of the White Race"
and "Open Letter to the Gentiles," the white supremacist group known as
"The Order" began to view him as a threat. After harassing Colonel
Jack Mohr, a member of the Christian Patriots Defense League, Berg
became a target. While most of his friends and associates said he was
mellowing out, sadly we will never know. Alan Berg was shot 12 times in
the face and body while exiting his Volkswagen. He was officially
pronounced dead at 9:45 p.m. on June 18th, 1984.