Irv Homer - Biography

Irving "Irv" Homer (May 29, 1924-June 24, 2009) was an American radio talk show host and television personality, primarily in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania market.

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, he was an Army Air Force veteran of World War II, flying B-17 Flying Fortresses out of Italy with the 15th Air Force. He flew 15 bombing missions as a pilot. For several years after the war he was a member of the Reserves.

He spent much of his adult life in a variety of careers, including bartending (he owned two taverns) and selling equipment for a pizza company. After stints at several small suburban Philadelphia talk radio stations in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he joined WWDB-FM in Philadelphia where he hosted a radio show from 1975 until 2000 when the station switched formats to music. During his time at WWDB, Homer became a vocal and notable public presence in the resurgent anti-tax movement (IRS and the Federal Reserve). This ultimately led to him being labeled by the IRS as a V.T.P (Violent Tax Protestor), a title that he referred to as a dubious honor given that his 'violence' was simply speaking his 1st Amendment right on-air. Beginning in 1991 he also contributed as a regular panelist on the news show Inside Story on WPVI-TV the prominent local ABC affiliate He then began a show on a small local station WBCB-AM in Levittown, Pennsylvania. The talk show, The Irv Homer Show aired on from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM aired from 2001 until January 2007.

For a brief period between 2001 and 2002 he also hosted a Sunday evening radio show on CBS-owned Philadelphia news/talk station WPHT-AM.

His wife Francine "Queenie" Homer died in April 2007. Active until the very end of his life, Homer collapsed while giving a lecture at Eastern University. He was taken to Bryn Mawr Hospital, where he was pronounced dead later that evening.

He ran for Vice-President of the United States in 1972 on the America's Party ticket.

Post-Radio Career

Homer continued to do an irregularly scheduled hour-long podcast produced by his son, Ronn Homer, which can be found on his website. Because the show was taped, he did not take calls. In July 2008 he started to do a live Ustream broadcast and started taking phone calls.

External links

• Irv's website
• Irv Homer TV