Atlanta radio legends Neal Boortz and Kim “the Kimmer” Peterson are taking the stage together for the first time in a May 12 town hall.
The dinner event, set to run from 6-9 p.m. at the Governors Gun Club in Kennesaw, will bring together two talk show hosts who collectively have more than 70 years of experience on Atlanta radio. It’s sponsored by Xtra 106.3, which now runs daily commentaries from Boortz and weekend highlights of Kimmer’s podcast. Tickets are $150 each and about 200 people are expected to attend.
“We purposely decided to keep this event small,” said David Dickey, who runs Xtra 106.3.
The two men have known each other for decades but have rarely crossed paths socially.
“I think I played a couple of holes of golf with him at Heritage Club accidentally,” said the Kimmer in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I met him at a couple of parties. We’ve spent maybe four minutes together in our lives.”
They said they have mutual respect for each other. The Kimmer said he listened to Boortz regularly when he was on WGST. “He has strong opinions and he can back them up,” the Kimmer said. “He is smart and makes connections.”
He plans to just wing it during the town hall. “I just hope it’s fun,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. I don’t do a lot of public things.”
Boortz said he hasn’t done a public event in three years, and he too is excited to do something in front of a crowd.
Now 77, he said he feels great. “It doesn’t feel any different from 67 or 57,” he said. “And considering the direction this country is going, I’d much rather be 77 than 57.”
The Kimmer, a U.S. Marine, joined WSB radio in 1974 and covered news until 1991. He became a conservative talk show host in 1992 on WGST, where he stayed until 2006. He returned on air in 2013 on Talk 106.7 until 2019 when that station changed format. He has since been doing a podcast and Xtra 106.3 recently added him on weekends.
Boortz joined Ring Radio in the late 1960s as a talk show host, switching to WGST in 1983. He left for better pay at WSB in 1992, became a nationally syndicated host and stayed until 2013, when he retired to Naples, Florida. He continued to do daily commentaries for WSB for a few years and did a subscription-only podcast. He said at one point, WSB dropped him, saying his listeners were too old. Xtra 106.3 earlier this year added Boortz as a daily commentator.
“I record two minutes and get it off my chest,” Boortz said. “My wife enjoys that more than I do so I’m not bugging her about politics.”
He likes being in Naples in part because nobody there recognizes him: “I have a little sticker on the back of my car PIP: Previously Important Person.”
“Life is good,” Boortz said. “I don’t look back. And I enjoy what I’m doing on Xtra 106.3.”
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