The other Michael Jackson

Al Martinez' column (subscribers only) in the L.A. Times Calendar section Monday visits with the other Michael Jackson, the longtime local radio host who has been off the air for a year and half. Martinez writes of Jackson, whose best years were on KABC before Rush Limbaugh's success at KFI altered the dynamic of talk radio:

Jackson never was a spokesman for any cause. His guests during more than three decades on the air in Los Angeles represented virtually every political opinion, and he treated them all with a civility today's bombast lacks. If he was perceived as liberal, it was only because he wasn't obnoxious...

He thinks one of the news stations would be a good place for him. Or maybe National Public Radio. "Just be sure to say that I'm not bitter," he says again. "That isn't me. I had 32 wonderful years on the air. I just want to be a part of what's happening."

Well, there were other reasons to call Jackson a liberal. But unlike most of the AM talk hosts on in Los Angeles today, he did have guests from many persuasions. Jackson's website.