Donald S. Bustany (August 10, 1928 – April 23, 2018) was an American radio and television broadcaster.

Biography

Bustany was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

to Lebanese-American parents. He and radio host/voice actor

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...

were childhood friends, and later co-creators of the syndicated radio programs '' American Top 40'' and ''

American Country Countdown ''American Country Countdown'', also known as ''ACC'', is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 40 country songs of the previous week, from No. 40 to No. 1, according to the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay ch ...

''. In the 1970s, Bustany was camera coordinator of ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Mo ...

'', ''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American sitcom television series produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a p ...

'', and other MTM productions. Earlier he had produced local talk shows on several Los Angeles, California stations.

Education

Bustany graduated with a BA in Liberal Arts from

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

and an MS in Communications from Syracuse University.

Activism

Bustany was an activist for the Palestinian right of return. From 1996 until 2014, he produced and hosted the radio program ''Middle East in Focus'' on KPFK, the Los Angeles station of the Pacifica Radio network; he remained a correspondent to the program. The show's "mission is to fill the many gaps left by the mainstream media in their coverage" of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. He was a member of the advisory committee of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and, in the 1990s, served for four terms as president of the organization's Los Angeles chapter. For his statements regarding the Zionist Movement and Israel, he had been criticized by such organizations as the JDL and the

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) () is an American non-profit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th centur ...

. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Southern California Chapter of Americans for Democratic Action.

Death

Bustany died on April 23, 2018, in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

, aged 89.

References

External links

*
Don Bustany: Truth Be Told
, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January/February 1999 (pp. 51, 84) 1928 births 2018 deaths American activists American radio personalities American people of Lebanese descent American Top 40 Radio personalities from Detroit {{US-tv-bio-stub