David Raymond Barber (April 25, 1955 – July 4, 2015) was an American talk radio and television personality from

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

. Born to parents of Croatian descent, Barber attended

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

. In the 1970s, Barber started his radio career at

WTRX WTRX (1330 AM, "Sports XTRA 1330") was an American radio station broadcasting a sports format in Flint, Michigan. At closure, WTRX was the Flint affiliate for Michigan Wolverines football and men's basketball, and Infinity Sports Network. ...

, where he hosted a talk program called ''Flint Feedback''. Barber's show often dealt with controversial topics, including an incident when he had a naked woman in his studio, long before the days of

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American broadcaster and media personality. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1 ...

. Barber also did shows on WTAC (now

WSNL WSNL (600 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Flint, Michigan. It is owned by the Christian Broadcasting System and broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format. The studios and offices are on Saginaw Street in Flint. By ...

) and WFDF. In 2001, Barber moved to the

Michigan Talk Radio Network Michigan ( ) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, Indiana and Illinois to the southwest, Ohio t ...

where his show was syndicated to radio stations across the state of Michigan. After short stints for

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left–wing alternative to coun ...

and another Flint station,

WWCK (AM) WWCK (1570 Hertz, kHz) was a commercial radio, commercial AM radio, AM radio station in Flint, Michigan. It is owned by Cumulus Media and it broadcast a classic hits radio format. Its radio studio, studios were south of the Flint city limits and ...

, Barber moved to

Providence, RI Providence () is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, it is one of the oldest cities in New England, founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and ...

in 2006 and worked for WPRO and then Capital TV. Barber returned to the Flint area on June 25, 2015 to attend a family wedding. However, while at a rehearsal dinner, Barber choked and collapsed. He was rushed to a Pontiac, MI hospital where doctors discovered that he had a heart attack and a stroke. After 10 days in a coma, Barber died at 10:45 a.m. on July 4 at the age of 60. Barber was once married to Ann Burke. He had a son, Chase Seegmiller, from a previous relationship. He is also survived by a brother and many relatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Dave 1955 births 2015 deaths American television personalities