KTTH Radio host Jason Rantz remembered the late Dori Monson as a man who inspired and challenged him to be better. Monson passed away over the weekend at the age of 61, just days after suffering a medical emergency.
Monson, a mainstay at KIRO Radio, was the station’s midday host and worked on the Seattle Seahawks pregame and post-game shows.
Bonneville owns three talk stations in Seattle. 97.3 KIRO-FM concentrates primarily on local shows, while 770 KTTH airs mostly syndicated programming.
Rantz said Monday that he became close with Monson because both men were passionate about newsgathering and informing their community better.
“We would talk once every couple of weeks,” Rantz said. “Every time I got a phone call from him, I would know that he had a story before I got to it and that would always annoy me, and we always planned how we were going to talk about it.”
Monson’s career began in Seattle in the 1980s. He worked for KING-TV before starting at KIRO Radio in the 1990s.
“We would share information despite the fact that we were competing and that was due in part because we were covering similar stories and we respected one another,” said Rantz. “I respected the hell out of all of the work that he had been doing.”
Rantz stated Monson had an incredible work ethic and was always looking for that next story.
“I always appreciated that,” he added. “He always made me better at what I was doing because I always knew that he was going to snatch something up if I didn’t get it first. I always appreciated that motivation he provided but also the friendship and guidance that he provided.”
KIRO Radio management said Monson leaves behind a wife and three daughters.
