**WE ARE AT WAR AND WE STILL ARE**A former herbalist has remade himself into the vitriol-spewing king of the Bay Area's afternoon drive time by Dan Fost, Chronicle Staff WriterThursday, February 6, 2003He's the son of an immigrant who bashes immigrants, a former academic who rips academia, a well-heeled professional who strikes a chord with the common people.Savage is king of the Bay Area's afternoon drive time. His show on San Francisco's KSFO (560 AM) from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays has the best rating in that time slot, according to Arbitron, with a 6.4 percent share among all listeners. (By comparison, San Francisco's top morning man, KGO's Ronn Owens, had a 7.1 share last fall, and Rush Limbaugh, also in the morning, had a 5.2 share.) In the most recent ratings period, 226,000 people listened to Savage's show at least once a week.And although that number of people is lower than some other shows, his ratings are higher because listeners spend more time with him. He is also the top-rated host in the most desired demographic, people between the ages of 25 and 54. *************************************He launched the show in the Bay Area in 1994 and went national three years ago. Since then it's been picked up by 300 stations across the country. He boasts about 5 million listeners. Talkers magazine, which follows the talk radio industry, listed Savage as the fifth most popular host in the country, behind only Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Howard Stern.*******************************************His book, "The Savage Nation" (WND Books; $24.99), hit the top of the New York Times hardcover nonfiction best-seller list last month in its second week on the list. In it, he tells the story of his transformation from his Bronx childhood to conservative superstar. It's mostly a recitation of all the things he sees assaulting America's "borders, language and culture" -- his catchphrase. He rails against "Turd World immigration," "left-wing pinko vermin in high places" and the "femi-fascists, the Commu-Nazis" who control the media."Only a more savage nation can survive," Savage says of his book's thesis. "Not a more compassionate nation. The country will not survive if we keep wallowing in this false compassion. We're not going to survive by being overly compassionate to our enemies. It's common sense. Most Americans will agree with me, except those in Hollywood on crack."After finishing his show one night, Savage sat down for dinner at his favorite haunt, Alioto's on Fisherman's Wharf. Diving into a bowl of cioppino (but shunning dessert or any food prepared with butter), Savage told his life story, punctuating it with digressions on the issues that inflame him. (That week's outrage: actor Sean Penn -- or, in Savage's words, "Sean Pencilhead" or "Osama Penn Laden" -- who traveled to Baghdad in an effort to prevent a U.S. war on Iraq.) **************************************RAISED THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY Savage wouldn't reveal his age, coyly claiming to be 39, even when told that voter registration records show he turned 60 in March.His grandfather, Sam Weiner, whom he calls "the astronaut of the family," was a Jewish immigrant from Russia around World War I. After the war, he brought his wife and children -- including Savage's father -- to the United States. ****************** His father became an antiques dealer, and the family moved around New York, from Manhattan to the Bronx to Queens. "We didn't have room for cute in my life," he writes in his book. "Things were tough every day of our lives. And we made the best of it. Frankly, that's why I'm driven the way I am. I was raised on neglect, anger and hate. I was raised the old-fashioned way." ****************************** Young Michael Weiner -- he did not adopt the "Savage" persona until he went into radio -- earned his bachelor's degree from Queens College. He worked as a schoolteacher and social worker but ultimately pursued graduate school.Savage went to Hawaii on a pharmacology fellowship but quit when a professor ordered him to kill a rat. "I would not kill the innocent rat," he says. "So I switched over to botany. Plants don't scream." ************************************ He earned two master's degrees from the University of Hawaii, one in ethnobotany in 1970 and one in anthropology in 1972. He then went on to UC Berkeley, where in 1978 he earned a doctorate with a thesis in nutritional ethnomedicine. ******************************** He knocked around the South Seas, where he became fascinated with the story of Charles Savage, a 19th century sailor believed to be the man who brought guns to Fiji. Fiji's tribal warfare was transformed to a "river of blood," Michael Savage says.Eventually, the tribal chiefs turned on Charles Savage, killed him and all of his children, and boiled his bones because they didn't want his spirit to return to earth, Michael Savage says."People say, 'You identify with him?' " Savage says now. "Not with his violence -- with his incredible life force."Through the 1980s, Savage wrote nearly 20 books with such titles as "The Complete Book of Homeopathy," "The Guide to Herb Medicine" and "Maximum Immunity."During this period, he sought a professorship. "It was painful," he says. "White men need not apply. I received 'drop dead' letters from universities because I was not black, or Hispanic, or a woman." ***************************************** On radio tours for his books, he gained an understanding of the medium. In 1994, when KSFO launched as one of the nation's only conservative talk radio stations, the former Dr. Michael Weiner had become Michael Savage, its leading host.STARTLING SUCCESSLast year (2003), Savage landed his show on WABC in New York, one of the biggest stations in the nation's biggest market -- a tremendous achievement, Sabo says."He's really entertaining," Sabo says. "You listen to his show, you'll have a good time. People don't listen to have civics lessons. If they did, C-SPAN would have a 20 share."After starting out at KSFO, Savage now works for Oregon syndicator Talk Radio Network. And he says his contract with KSFO is up at the end of June. "There may be some changes in the market on July 1," he says.Jack Swanson, operations director at KSFO -- which, like competing talk station KGO (810 AM), is owned by the Walt Disney Co. -- wouldn't comment on Savage's contract."He is a phenomenal talent," says Swanson, a self-described "ACLU liberal" who nonetheless created KSFO's all-conservative "Hot Talk" format. Savage was doing a weekend show on KGO when Swanson plucked him for the all-important morning slot on the new KSFO in 1994."He's an entertainer," Swanson says. "People want to be entertained. They want to hear things they haven't heard before. I think a whole bunch of people who listen to Michael don't agree with him."The show is a mix of the personal and the political. Savage will often describe how he's feeling, from the dosage of Vitamin A that has him "humming" to the bout of food poisoning he suffered the day before. And he'll just as happily launch into a tirade on some political issue of the day, from potential war in Iraq (he's for it) to banning sport utility vehicles (he owns one). ***************************************** Opponents of war, he said on Jan. 21, argue that it's all about oil. "If it's all about the oil, and seizing the oil for America, then so what?" he said, adding later, "If we permit those Arab cutthroat murderers to keep all the oil, we'll be down on all fours in 20 years." ************************************** Earlier this month, he and his listeners spent a fair amount of time lambasting former NBA star Charles Barkley, with whom Savage engaged in a spirited debate on CNN's "Talkback Live" and who called Savage an expletive. On the show, Savage told Barkley: "You're a dumb basketball player. Go dribble a ball. Go dribble a ball. You couldn't shine my shoes, buster."Savage loves a fight. He applied to be the dean of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism in the mid-1990s, and when the school selected noted author and journalist Orville Schell, Savage filed suit. He ultimately dropped the case.His son, Russ Weiner, took a stab at electoral politics, running for state Assembly in Marin in 1998 but losing to Democrat Kerry Mazzoni. Weiner now lives in Southern California and runs Rockstar, an herbal energy soft drink firm.Savage's wife, Janet Weiner, is Rockstar's chief financial officer, Savage says, and his daughter, who lives in San Diego, also works for the company. It's a natural business for the son of an herbalist, Savage says.Through a family assistant, Janet Weiner and her children declined to be interviewed.Savage won't say where he lives, other to say he has home-studios in Marin County and San Francisco, and he won't allow a reporter or photographer to visit, saying death threats have led him to be protective of his privacy.He says he has no intention of ever seeking political office. "I have no political ambitions," he says. "I could never take a pay cut. I want to make an honest living. And I could never sit through meetings."In radio, Savage says, he found his calling."It's an amazing experience," he says. "For three hours a day, I float like a butterfly. . . . You find the world resonates with your opinion. It's living a dream."IN HIS OWN WORDS Michael Savage doesn't mind sharing his opinions, even his outrageous thoughts. Or, as he said on a recent broadcast of his radio show, "The Savage Nation," he likes to offer up "ruminations from an extraordinary mind."Some of those observations, culled from several of this month's shows:-- On women who undressed to draw attention to their anti-war protests: "If all of you foolish women go naked to stop the war . . . you may end up wearing a burqa. Of course, in your cases, I recommend it."-- On anti-war protesters in general: "You utopian idealist fools on the left. Radical Islam is on the rise. History is repeating itself. There's evil and there's good. Either you're with the good or with the evil."-- On U.S. propaganda in World War II, including cartoons mocking Germans and Japanese, and how a similar effort is needed today: "We need racist stereotypes right now of our enemy in order to encourage our warriors to kill the enemy. Liberals are offended that I even ask the question. I should be arrested! Many of you are offended more by me than by Osama bin Laden. . . . Many of you are so twisted in your mind (that) you trust Saddam Hussein more than you trust President Bush. . . . This is what liberalism is. It's Trojan- horse fascism without the jackboots."-- On the source of his sore throat: "I live in a place in Northern California, Marin County, that's filled with phony liberals. . . . They're just filled with themselves. They call themselves environmentalists, and then they run their wood stoves and pollute the air."-- On what Saddam Hussein could do if he were exiled from Iraq: "He could go to Harvard and teach at the Streisand School of Government, formerly the Kennedy School of Government. . . . He could be a commentator on CNN. . . . He could be a greeter at the Luxor (hotel and casino) in Las Vegas."-- On George W. Bush, and the difference between him and Bill Clinton: "He's brought back dignity to the White House. . . . When have you last heard about a Hollywood degenerate having sex in the Lincoln bedroom? . . . Laura Bush . . . is not one of these liberals pushing 'Janey has two mommies,' or 'The family is a mom, a kid and a goat.' "-- On the campaign to ban SUVs: "The most dangerous cars on the road are small cars. I'm going to start a dialogue about banning small cars as dangerous. They're like clown cars. They go 49 mph in the middle lane. I've heard a lot about banning SUVs. The SUV is the safest car on the road. That's why the women love them. The SUV'll protect you and your babies better than anything on the road, next to an Abrams M1A (tank). . . . You ever see who's inside of (small) cars? Six college girls and a crystal and a marijuana cigarette."-- On Jimmy Carter trying to help Hugo Chavez in Venezuela: "Whenever a socialist gets in trouble, a Nobel Peace Prize winner is not far behind to try to save them. . . . There is a revolution going on in the world, and that revolution is socialism trying to overtake capitalism."-- On filmmaker Martin Scorsese's opposition to war in Iraq: "That weaselly director Martin Scorsese -- he's done one movie after another featuring murder and mayhem. Butchery! Blood! Murder! Mayhem! How is it that that guy, who creates violent epics such as 'Goodfellas' and 'Taxi Driver,' is now a peacenik while trying to promote his latest swill? Which, by the way, I won't see. I don't have to see 'Gangs of New York.' All I have to do is turn on CNN and listen to the commentators."-- On welfare mothers: "Welfare mothers should be put on Norplant until they can support themselves. Otherwise they have no right to have a baby. . . . Where is it written that welfare mothers have the right to knock babies out like puppies?"-- On war with Iraq: "Is it time for Bush to explain the rationale for war? I'm totally for taking out Saddam Hussein. He wants to dominate the Arab world and all the oil of the world in that area. He wants to wreak vengeance on the U.S. with nuclear, chemical and biological weaponry. And he wants to eliminate Israel. We all know that. He's stated it. Yet the left says there should be no war under any condition."
Michael Savage hosts a radio show on 370 radio stations, has written over 20 books, many of them best sellers and holds master's degrees in Botany and Anthropology as well as a Ph.D. from University of CA, Berkley in nutrional ethnomedicine.
