Kirby Allen Wilbur (born November 11, 1953) is an American talk radio journalist in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington and a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

political activist. He served as the chair of the Washington State Republican Party.

Early life and career

Wilbur was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on November 11, 1953 and raised in Seattle, A real estate appraiser by profession, Wilbur was a frequent caller to Seattle talk radio stations when, in 1993, a producer at KVI-AM asked him to audition for an on-air position. He was first employed by the station as a substitute host, then began weekday evening broadcasts in 1993. Wilbur, who has served as a delegate to three

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

s, met his wife, Trina, while working on Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. They have two sons, Nathan and Adam.

Current work

Activism

Wilbur is a member of the boards of directors of the

Young America's Foundation Young America's Foundation (YAF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservative youth organization founded in 1969. In 2018, the ''Los Angeles Times'' called YAF "one of the most preeminent, influential and controversial forces in the nation's conserva ...

, the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for Conservatism in the United States, conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Poli ...

Second Amendment Foundation The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is a United States nonprofit organization that supports gun rights. Founded in 1974 by Alan Gottlieb and headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, SAF publishes gun rights magazines and public education material ...

, and Citizens United.

Writing

In 1999 Wilbur co-authored, with

Floyd Brown Floyd Gregory Brown (born March 10, 1961) is an American author, speaker, and media commentator. He is formerly the CEO of USA Radio Network. Brown founded the conservative website '' Western Journalism'' in 2008. Brown in his early career worke ...

, ''Say the Right Thing: Talk Radio's Favorite Conservative Quotes, Notes and Gloats'', which was published by Merrill Press.

''Radio''

Wilbur began hosting the 5:00am to 9:00am ( PT) time slot at KVI-AM in 1995 as ''The Kirby Wilbur Show''. In 2006, the name of the program was changed to ''Kirby & Co.'' and began to feature occasional, but increasingly irregular, contributions by KVI news director Carleen Johnson and producer David Carson. Frequent guests included "Brian the Movie Guy", a local movie reviewer who provides family-friendly film reviews. Famous guests included

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...

Laura Schlessinger Laura Catherine Schlessinger (born January 16, 1947), commonly known as Dr. Laura, is an American talk radio host and author. ''The Dr. Laura Program'', heard weekdays for three hours on Sirius XM Radio, consists mainly of her responses to call ...

, and

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American political commentator, stand-up comedian, talk show host, writer, actor and former sportscaster. Miller was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' fro ...

. On November 12, 2009, Wilbur broadcast the last edition of his show. The KVI general manager indicated that the reason was declining ratings; no misconduct was cited.Tu, Janet I. (2009-11-14). Kirby Wilbur, longtime radio host, loses show on KVI-AM: Longtime local conservative talk-radio host Kirby Wilbur aired his final show on AM 570 KVI Thursday, the radio station announced. The Seattle Times, 14 November 2009. Retrieved on 2009-11-18 from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010272002_kirby14m.html.According to a Twitter post, it was because management decided not to renew his contract. Wilbur returned to KVI on January 4, 2016 in the 9 a.m. to noon slot, including co-hosting the first hour with morning drive host John Carlson. This has since been increased to the first two hours (8 a.m. - 10 with Carlson, 10 a.m. - noon solo). Wilbur has been a frequent staple on the ''

Talkers Magazine ''Talkers Magazine'' is a trade-industry publication related to talk radio in the United States. Its slogan is "The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media". In addition to radio, it also covers talk shows on broadcast and cable television, a ...

'' "Heavy Hundred" list, an annual index of what the magazine bills as "the most important radio talk show hosts in America". In 2009, he appeared in position 72.

''The Sean Hannity Show''

Since 2003 Wilbur has served as fill-in host on 11 episodes of the ''

Sean Hannity Show ''The Sean Hannity Show'' is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Sean Hannity. The program is broadcast live every weekday, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET. The show is produced in the New York City studios of radio station WOR ...

''.

Chair of the Washington State Republican Party

Wilbur unseated

Luke Esser Luke Esser (born August 26, 1961) is an American attorney, journalist, and politician who served as the chairman of the Washington State Republican Party from 2007 to 2011. He was elected on January 27, 2007, when he defeated incumbent chairwoman ...

by a vote of 69 to 36 as Chair of the Washington State Republican Party in January 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilbur, Kirby American talk radio hosts Living people University of Washington alumni Radio personalities from Seattle American conservative talk radio hosts State political party chairs of Washington (state) Washington (state) Republicans 1953 births