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.