Sid Rosenberg truly knew and appreciated Bernie McGuirk.
“You believed in me when almost no one else did. You stayed loyal and loved me when it would have been easy to run. I am beyond devastated. But I do have beautiful memories that provide me some solace as well as knowing you are no longer in pain. I will miss you & always love you.”
That’s what Sid Rosenberg wrote on Twitter following the death of Bernie McGuirk, his friend and co-host of Bernie & Sid in The Morning. McGuirk, a legendary New York City radio host, died Wednesday at the age of 64 following a battle with prostate cancer.
“Close to the Christmas holidays last year, Bernard came into work one morning and was clutching his groin,” Rosenberg recalled. “He said every time he peed it burned. You don’t have to be a doctor to see it was something like a urinary tract infection,” Rosenberg said.
McGuirk saw a doctor and returned to tell Rosenberg he had prostate cancer.
“He had a high PSA count and I don’t think he attacked it as hard as he could have early. When the cancer came back it had spread all over his body. He underwent nine rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. He started missing work for a week at a time, then a month at a time.”
The last time the friends spoke was eight days ago. Their last chance to say goodbye.
“I told him I loved him and he told me he loved me,” Rosenberg said, clearly choking up with emotion.
On the show, after they said goodbye, Rosenberg had a chance to reflect on their relationship. One of the many memories that came flooding back was the”beautiful and emotional” forward McGuirk wrote for Rosenberg’s book, Sid-izens United.
“He wrote the forward even when he had cancer,” Rosenberg said. “That’s the kind of man he was. We go back 23 years when we hooked up on WFAN in 2000. My first job was on the (Don) Imus show. Obviously Bernie and I hit it off from the beginning. The cast of the show is still close.”
Rosenberg said McGuirk liked to have a good time when they were “young and wild”.
“We were party guys,” Rosenberg said. “We didn’t give a shit what people thought. People still can’t believe the stuff we got away with.”
Rosenberg said on the air he wasn’t just losing a radio partner. The two were very close. “More close than people even realize. Working with Bernie was a scream. We often talked about the show we’d someday do together and that came to fruition in 2016.”
When Rosenberg got into trouble or needed to talk with a friend, one of the first calls was always from McGuirk.
“Bernie was a transparent guy. That’s something a lot of people may not know about him,” Rosenberg said. “He loved his family, his country, radio, and me. He also loved WABC. That was Bernie. What you saw was what you got. People appreciated that about him. He was not a great mystery.”
Rosenberg said there were trying times when his good friend had cancer, but their closeness carried them through.
“At some points we had our friendly differences,” Rosenberg said. “In 2016, I was supporting Hilary Clinton and he was supporting Trump. I’m a Trump supporter now, but I thought he was stupid during the campagin, calling people stupid nicknames. We were in trouble after Obama and we needed change.”
After the election, Rosenberg started to see things differently. They were in D.C. immediately after the election, but McGuirk didn’t tell Rosenberg, “I told you so”.
“That’s not the kind of man he was. I thought he was going to start beating his chest, but he didn’t, even though he wanted Trump to win. We were just a block from the White House and saw people crying in the streets. I’m glad I was there with him.”
Rosenberg told McGuirk he just wanted a President that was best for the country and if Trump was that person, so be it.
Just last month, Rosenberg said he attended the 100 year gala for WABC. “I went up to give an award. Onstage, people asked me to say something about Bernie. Instead of bowing heads and offering prayers, everyone stood up and applauded Bernie’s life and accomplishments. Management took a video of that experience to Bernie. A lot of people are going to miss Bernie on the radio. I’m here to tell you, as a guy that got to know him well, he was half the guy on the radio as he was off the air.”
Jim Cryns writes features for Barrett News Media. He has spent time in radio as a reporter for WTMJ, and has served as an author and former writer for the Milwaukee Brewers. To touch base or pick up a copy of his new book: Talk To Me – Profiles on News Talkers and Media Leaders From Top 50 Markets, log on to Amazon or shoot Jim an email at jimcryns3_zhd@indeedemail.com.
