Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck is an American radio and television host, author and political commentator. He was born on February 10, 1964 in Everett, Washington. His family later moved to Mount Vernon, Washington where Beck attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School. He graduated from Sehome High School in June 1982.

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At age 13, Beck won a contest hosted by a local station manager in Mount Vernon that landed him the opportunity to be a radio DJ for an hour. That was the beginning of Beck’s radio career. He went on to work at various radio stations across the country some of which include KUBE 93 (Seattle), K 96 (Provo) and WPGC (Washington D.C.). Beck’s latest radio show “The Glenn Beck Program” is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks and can be heard on more than 400 stations across the United States. It is currently ranked #3 in terms of weekly audience numbers.

Beck has a TV show “Glenn Beck” on Fox News that airs weekdays at 5 pm ET. The show has been drawing audiences upward of 2 million despite being on at 5 pm, a typically slow shift for cable news. “Glenn Beck” also has a weekend version. In addition, Beck has a regular segment every Friday on the Fox News Channel program “The O’Reilly Factor” titled “At Your Beck and Call.”

Beck is also a popular author who has written many bestselling books. As of September 2010, he had released ten books in multiple formats. His fourth book titled “Glenn Beck’s Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-Of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine” stayed in the number one spot on New York Times’ bestseller list for almost 20 weeks. Other bestselling books by Beck include “An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World’s Biggest Problems” and “The Christmas Sweater.” He has also released three books only in audio format.

In March 2009, Beck founded the “9-12 Project”, a group that seeks to bring back the sense of compassion and shared values experienced by Americans after September 11, 2001.

In July 2009, Beck turned the spotlight of his TV and radio shows on Van Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs at President Barack Obama’s White House Council on Environmental Quality. Beck was highly critical of Jones’ past involvement with STORM, a radical left-wing organization. Other organizations took up the issue and soon after, Jones resigned from his position.

Another prominent campaign spearheaded by Beck was the “Restoring Honor” rally, held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. in August 2010. This event received support from conservative groups across the country.

In August 2010, Beck launched “The Blaze.com,” a news and opinion website that is touted to be a big success.

In September 2010, Beck was selected for Time’s top 100 most influential people under the “Leader” category.

Glenn Beck lives in New Canaan, Connecticut with his wife Tania and four children.

Sources:

• Turns out Glenn Beck actually was born in Everett

• Salon.com: The making of Glenn Beck

• Talkers.com: The Top Talk Radio Audiences

• NY Times: Times Topics: Glenn Beck

• Politico.com: Glenn Beck joins Fox News

• NY Times Paperback Nonfiction - List (Oct. 9, 2009)

• Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' Rally Draws Tea Party Activists

• Huffington Post: Glenn Beck Gets First Scalp: Van Jones Resigns