Making news stories relatable to their audience is a significant hurdle talk radio hosts face. Lately, the media has been saturated with reports on drug addiction and mental illness, including Hunter Biden’s legal issues stemming from crack cocaine use and the widespread opiate crisis in America. Incorporating a personal perspective into these narratives can prove challenging.
During a Wednesday discussion about Hunter Biden’s legal woes, Gary McNamara of Red Eye Radio revealed that his best friend of many years succumbed to crack addiction. He said the pain of losing him was a sobering reminder of how fortunate he is to have a successful career in radio.
“Many people that I know that are close to me are in recovery. I had one of my best friends die back in 1997,” he said.
McNamara refrained from disclosing the name of his deceased acquaintance. Still, he did reveal that the individual tragically passed away at the age of 36 due to a lethal drug overdose.
“I knew he was into it and I couldn’t hang around with him anymore,” McNamara said. “This story goes back to 1993. I remember walking into his house one day, and he had a record album out, and there was a pile of cocaine, and I just went, ‘What are you doing?’
After that incident, McNamara mentioned that he went almost a year without seeing his friend.
“Finally, I was leaving town to go for another job, and I was in the area, and I decided to go by his house,” he said. “He was a good friend. When I stopped past the house, his wife was gone, his kids were gone, and he had no furniture. It’s almost like it was a made-for-TV movie.”
McNamara said he learned about his friend’s death while boarding a plane to attend a job interview during a pivotal moment in his career.
“The radio station told me that a friend’s sister wanted to get a hold of me, and I knew right at that point that he was dead. I still have the funeral card: him and his two young daughters. I keep it in a prominent place in my house to know how quickly life can be taken from you.”