MARK: Welcome to a special edition of the Rush Limbaugh Show with a very special guest. As I said on Friday, Rush had two great loves of his life, public and private, as it were. One was you, the tens of millions of listeners he found a third of a century ago and never broke faith with. And the other, the personal, private, endearing love he had to wait a little longer to find, and when he did, they didn’t get as many years together as they should have. But Rush’s beloved Kathryn is here today to take your calls on 1-800-282-2882. It’s your chance to ask about the off-air side of Rush. Thank you so much for being here, Kathryn. How are you and the family doing at the moment?
KATHRYN: Thank you so much, Mark. It’s been a very difficult time, as it probably has been for everyone who’s listened all these years. But we know that Rush is in a good place. He’s in heaven. He’s looking down on us, and that gives us some element of comfort. But it has been a very difficult time.
MARK: And things are sort of complicated by the COVID situation because people can’t have normal memorial services anymore. But you’re planning a virtual memorial service for Rush at some point in the next few weeks?
KATHRYN: Yes, that’s right. Unfortunately due to COVID we can’t do as many things in person as we would like, but we are in the initial stages of planning a celebration of life that will be able to be viewed by all of the audience and friends and extended family at some point in the near future. We don’t have an exact date just yet. We’re working on some of the logistics. But, yes, that is something that we will have in the upcoming weeks to month.
MARK: I hope you find someone to give a eulogy for Rush that was half as lovely as the one Rush gave for our late friend Kit Carson a few years ago because that was spectacular, and afterwards I went up and congratulated Rush on that. I assumed he’d done that for somebody or other every couple of months, or at least every year or so, and he said no, that was the very first funeral eulogy he had ever given, and he gave a beautiful one to Kit, and I hope we can find someone who does Rush the same beautiful justice that he did Kit.
We’re going to shoot for an hour and see how it goes and if it’s all a bit too much we’ll understand if you need to bail, Kathryn. But let me exercise moderator’s privilege and ask a first question to get us going, back to when you first met, because, as Rush tells it, you were working for the Gary Player Foundation. Mr. Player is the legendary South African golfer, greatest South African golfer of all time, and his foundation raises a lot of money for children, and you were told to invite Rush to some event and you weren’t particularly keen to do it because all you knew about Rush came from the lefty media. That’s how Rush told it. Is that your version of events too?
KATHRYN: Unfortunately, that is right, yes. (laughing) Well, I was working for Gary Player. I had lived overseas a majority of my life and always loved South Africa and met Gary Player and loved all of what he was doing with children. And so, yes, I was running his foundation at the time. And we were organizing a large celebrity golf tournament at the Floridian, Wayne Huizenga’s former Floridian place, and Rush was one of the guests that was introduced to me as a possibility to make the list of possible A-Listers.
And, believe it or not, I put him down on maybe B or C — (laughing) — just based on what I thought I knew of him. I was raised overseas, so we were not as familiar with some of Rush’s politics and stature and all of that at the time. So at the time I thought, “Okay. Well, I’ve heard a lot about him, but I will give it a shot anyway.” So, I invited him, and he came in to the Floridian, and I remember it as if it was yesterday. He walked in, he was extraordinarily humble and kind. And I thought to myself, “This isn’t quite the person that I thought was going to be arriving.”
And from that moment on I knew that everything that you read and hear is not necessarily accurate. And over the course of our marriage, he taught me and many others to not ever believe anything and don’t read anything by what you think it is on the outside. So from that moment, Rush and I became friends for many years before we actually got married. We were very, very close from the early days of that meeting.
MARK: And as you said, you put him on the C-list, so you kind of moved him up as you got to know him, then, did you?
KATHRYN: (laughing) I don’t think he’s very happy if he’s listening to me right now, but he would say that, too, so I know I’m not saying anything outside of school. But, yes, absolutely there were others that perhaps were ahead. But over time there could be no one else that would be higher on the A-list than Rush. Rush was extraordinary in every way.
MARK: Well, that’s certainly true. Let us take our first call. We’re gonna do something I don’t think has ever been done on the Rush Limbaugh Show because, as listeners know, Rush didn’t always like to go to calls early and certainly not in the first segment, but this is between you and Kathryn today. Dan in Carson City, Nevada, you’re live with Kathryn Limbaugh. What’s your question for Kathryn?
CALLER: Mark, thanks for having me on. Kathryn, I just wanted to explain to you what Rush meant to me. (choking up) Now, I’m gonna be a little emotional but I’m really gonna try not to ’cause I want to get out what I have to say. We’ve had two losses this year. We lost my mom 24 weeks ago, 25 weeks ago today, Thursday, to Parkinson’s disease.
About eight years ago I was a lost kid — I would say kid ’cause I’m only 47. I was lost, Kathryn. I’d come in to work every day, I was hotheaded, but I was strong, I believed in what I believed and I wanted to be what I wanted to be, but I just didn’t have direction. My Uncle Pat, who was a lifelong listener — and people that aren’t lifelong listeners that are just years, just years, I’m gonna miss out on so much. But lifelong listener, he said, “Daniel, you need to listen, you’re not listening to us, but you need to listen to this gentleman.”
I turned him on and in the first five minutes, Kathryn, I didn’t know him physically, but I felt him emotionally. And it was the first time I ever had a real father figure in my life. (choking up) God bless my mom. She did the best she could. But we had somebody that we could relate to, we had somebody that could help us feel the words he was saying, and then we could put that to our everyday life. He wasn’t a politician. He wasn’t this person that — he was us! He made us feel like he was us. And now, now we’re lost, now we don’t have that voice anymore.
I know, Mark — and no takeaway from the amazing guest hosts that he has. But I will have a sticker on my car forever, and I wish I had the original one, that said “Rush is Right” because I remember my Uncle Pat always saying, “Rush is right. You need to listen,” and it’ll say, “Rush is Right: 1951 to 2021 and Forever.”
And so I just wanted to let you know how we felt here. I live in a small town in Carson City, Nevada, but his words changed our lives. And so I know my family has benefited from it. I know I have benefited from it. And, golly, I know that you have definitely benefited from it. So, God bless. We love him. His words were heard, and they were felt, and they’re gonna be felt forever.
And we’re never, ever gonna forget our Rush Limbaugh. I’m just so sad that I only got seven years with him. I feel like I’m gonna miss out on a lifetime of knowledge. But I just wanted to let you know that we love him dearly (choking up) and we’re hurting, too, ’cause we lost not once, but twice — in some cases, some people, three times with all the craziness that’s happened.
But I just wanted to say that I didn’t know him, but I felt him every time he spoke. So thank you, Rush. (choking up) I hope you’re listening, and we love you. I love you, Mom. Thank you, Uncle Pat, for turning me on to this amazing man and this amazing station and amazing people that help him every day because he recognized that.
You know, sometimes, though, in life, we just forget about the people who help us. I always say my wife, Denise, is amazing because people always say, “Daniel, you’re a great guy; we love you,” and I always say, “You know, behind every good man there’s a woman pushing the buttons,” and so I believe that wholeheartedly.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
MARK: That’s very true, Dan. Thank you very much for that call.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
MARK: Kathryn, there are tens of millions like Dan.
KATHRYN: Yeah.
MARK: There are particulars like he lost his mother and he lost Rush in the same year. But, basically, Rush had an immediate family of tens of millions of people.
KATHRYN: Yes. And I’m very sorry, Dan, for your loss, both — your two losses that you had. My father passed away from pancreatic cancer not too long ago as well. And it is devastating when you lose anyone in your life. And Rush, for all of us — for me, but also for all of you — is a family member. And I know the other day when I came on to let you know of his passing, I very much felt that I was sharing that news with family.
So I hope you all know that I do fully understand the pain that you’re going through. And I do believe that Rush is looking down, and he’s listening. And while he’s very, very, very sad that we are suffering, I believe that he is also happy because he knows that we will carry on and all of us will find a way to honor Rush and everything that he stood for.
MARK: Kathryn Limbaugh on the Rush Limbaugh Show. We will have more of your calls to Kathryn in just a moment.
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MARK: The Rush Limbaugh Show with Rush’s beloved Kathryn in a very special appearance. Mark in Richmond, Virginia, you’re live with Kathryn Limbaugh.
CALLER: First of all, Kathryn, my wife and I would like to express our deepest condolences —
KATHRYN: Thank you.
CALLER: — for the loss of Rush.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
CALLER: We loved him. We loved him from the bottom of our hearts. My question is, how did Elton John evolve as the musical guest at your wedding?
KATHRYN: Well, that’s a great question, Mark. Both Rush and I loved Elton John for many years, and ironically, he happened to be staying in the exact same hotel as we were in Hawaii. We often went out to Hawaii to visit my parents, who live there. We would go most Christmases every year for many years. And the year before we got married, just prior, Elton John was staying in the same hotel as we were.
In fact, I believe he was in the hotel suite in the floor above us and we were right below. And Rush and I were on the deck, and we said to each other, “How about we invite Elton John to perform at our wedding? (laughing) That certainly won’t be at all newsworthy.” So that is exactly what we did. We thought, at first, it was a bit funny.
Perhaps it wouldn’t happen, but I wrote a letter to Elton John and told him how much we loved and adored him and respected his music and his career and asked if he might be available to headline at our wedding. And one thing led to another, and sure enough he accepted, very graciously, and he was there.
And he was absolutely wonderful. Rush and Sir Elton John kept in touch, as we did, and they spoke outside of the wedding. And it was a wonderful friendship, I would say. There were actually quite a few similarities that might not come across on the surface.
CALLER: That’s awesome.
MARK: (chuckling) That is very interesting when you put it like that, Kathryn, because people think that Elton is just another conventional, cookie-cutter, left-wing rocker. But actually he’s a much more sophisticated person and he’s very decent and true to friends.
KATHRYN: Absolutely.
MARK: He doesn’t abandon them.
KATHRYN: Absolutely. Wonderful man.
MARK: That’s… Do you have a favorite Elton John song? I know the disc jockey side of Rush; he must have played a ton of Elton in his disc jockey days. Did you have a particular favorite?
KATHRYN: We did. We had a lot of favorites that we were actually able to put into the wedding. But I will say that Rush’s favorite song and mine as well is Your Song by Sir Elton John, and, in fact — a little bit of inside baseball, as Rush would say — I played that for Rush in his final days, and he was able to listen to that song, and we remembered our wedding and Elton John in particular.
MARK: That’s a beautiful thought, actually. Laurie in Shreveport, Louisiana, you’re live with Kathryn. Hi, Laurie.
CALLER: Hello. So, right to the point. I want Kathryn to know that not only have they been in my prayers but continue to be in my prayers (choking up), I want to thank you so much for sharing Rush with us. I know that that was difficult at times, but we are so very grateful. I wanted to call Rush, but was too, way too nervous, as you can probably tell right now.
KATHRYN: You don’t sound nervous. As he would say, “you don’t sound nervous.”
CALLER: Okay, great. My heart’s racing like crazy. I knew I had to call today. I had to call. If I couldn’t talk to Rush, I was gonna talk to his best girl. So one thing, most people hate Mondays. It’s my favorite day of the week, because I want to hear what Rush has to say about whatever happened over the weekend. It could have been something big; it could have been something minimal.
I needed to hear Rush’s voice. I needed to know, “What was his take on the weekend?” And so every Monday morning — for us, it’s 11 o’clock when we hear Rush — and so every Monday turn on that radio, listen to that bumper music. “Here comes Rush!” I’m so excited. And the other thing that I wanted to tell you about was, so, the Rush Revere books, they came out a little late for my children.
So when my oldest daughter got married, one of the first things that I did was I bought Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims. It’s been sitting on the shelf for quite a while. My grandson is about three. So I’m getting close. I’m getting close to where I can read them to him. And I’m so grateful. I never even realized how grateful I am that when I read them, I got Rush.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
CALLER: I got history from the greatest history teacher of my life, and I got Rush. I’m so thankful, and the day — the terrible day — last week, I went on the website. “Please let…” I want stuff to be there, I want to be able to find it. And of course, everybody thinks the same thing.
KATHRYN: Yes.
CALLER: So I want to know, will the books still be available for years to come, for us to get the rest of the books and be able to read it for generations to come?
KATHRYN: Yes. First, Laurie, I’m very sorry for your loss, because this is a loss for all of us. And I can hear in your voice that you’re very upset, and we all are. But as far as the books, yes, Rush and I don’t have biological children. However, years ago we wanted to be sure that the younger generations learned about the true history of our country.
But it became a project of his that he absolutely adored. And he loved the idea of making complex American history easy for the younger generation to understand. So we introduced the horse named Liberty that could time travel.
MARK: (chuckling)
KATHRYN: And it was a wonderful project of his and of ours to write those books. So, yes, they will continue on for years, I hope.
MARK: Yes. Rush loved Liberty, the talking horse.
KATHRYN: Yes. (chuckles)
MARK: Some of us guest hosts got a bit resentful (laughing) that he loved that darn horse more than he loved the guest hosts.
KATHRYN: Yes. (laughing)
MARK: But we’ll pick up that thought with Kathryn Limbaugh in just a moment.
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MARK: Welcome along to America’s number-one radio show with a very special guest, the one and only Kathryn Limbaugh. Kevin in Brick, New Jersey, you’re live with Kathryn. What’s your question?
CALLER: Hi, Kathryn. I just wanted to say how much I love Rush and he was like a grandfather to me. And I just wanted to thank you so much for taking care of him this past year. I just wish God would let us listen to his radio show that we all know he’s hosting right now in heaven.
KATHRYN: Yes.
CALLER: But my question really for you is just a curious one. What was his daily routine like, like what time did he wake up, when did he go to the studio, when did —
KATHRYN: Right.
KATHRYN: Well, Rush was an incredible creature of habit. As you can imagine being on the radio for so many years’ time was very, very important to him. In fact, if I ever asked him what time we should be ready to go somewhere, he would say 12:17, as opposed to 12:15 or 12 o’clock. But his routine was often the exact same, even throughout this cancer period of time this last year.
So what he would usually do is wake up in the morning, probably about 8, 8 o’clock. He would take a shower, he would feed his little cat, Allie, who he adored and still would be feeding her if he could. But he would head to the studio probably about 8:30, and he would do show prep in the morning prior to the show coming on.
But one thing about Rush is that he never stopped working. He jokes about that often, but he really never stopped working. From the moment that he got home after the show, he may give himself 15 minutes or 20 minutes or maybe an hour of rest time, but then he was right back at it. He was always preparing. He was always reading his iPad, paying attention to current events and so forth. So I would say he was always working, but the exact schedule started in the morning about 8 o’clock and carried through to the show and on to the show itself.
MARK: Yes. He was amazing because when he used to talk about show prep, in a sense he was never not show prepping.
KATHRYN: Correct.
MARK: He was taking something in from somewhere all the time.
KATHRYN: Absolutely. All, all the time. And he would pick up things from TV, from TV shows, from mainstream news that he would occasionally watch, from iPad stories, from tech blogs. He was always, always, always on in some capacity. It was very difficult for him not to be engaged. He was so brilliant that I think he actively, always had to be learning and preparing in some capacity.
KATHRYN: (laughing)
MARK: I don’t know whether we want to go too far into that. You were talking about the Rush Revere books, which I think it’s generally understood came from you. Rush had done a couple of nonfiction books back in the early nineties and had no particular desire to go back and do that again. And you two cowrote that Rush Revere together. Was that your special little project, a corner of Rush’s professional life that you could carve out for yourself?
KATHRYN: I believe so. We very much did it together, but I’ve always loved American history and knew that Rush was speaking to an audience that maybe didn’t quite know how to reach their children or to the younger generations in their family. And we wanted to provide a way for them to do so. And that’s really how that came about. I did do the majority of the writing, but Rush was right there throughout the entire process, and every point of it we did in a way together. And it was a huge project of both of our lives.
MARK: Well, it was hugely successful. Here is Rush himself talking about the Rush Revere books a couple of years ago.
BEGIN ARCHIVE CLIP
RUSH: I am holding here now in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers the book, number two, ladies and gentlemen. We inside refer to it as book two. Rush Revere and the First Patriots is out. This is it. This is the day it’s available. And I just want to tell you, your kids are going to love it. If they liked book one, they are going to like book two.
Kathryn came to me and said, “You know what? You are very concerned about education in America and what’s happening, what’s not being taught, what’s being lied about. Why don’t you write the truth of American history for kids?” And that turned the light on. I mean, that was exciting on a number of levels. A, the purpose. But, B, the challenge. I’d never written children’s books before. I never even thought about doing it.
So we were off to the races. The first book came out last October, Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, the true story of the first people seeking freedom to arrive at the New World. That story has been so bastardized and taught wrong and purposely mistold. The mission is educating young people to the truth of this country because it’s a great country. The history of this country is wonderful. The history of this country is the blessing of God. The history of this country is something to be extremely proud of. Being an American is something to be extremely proud of.
There are too many people in the education system today who simply don’t look at America that way. They don’t look at America as anything special. In fact, some of them look at it as a problem in the world. There are certainly people who do not believe the founding of this country was as I believe, miraculous. I believe it was a miracle and preserving it for people who will come after us is important. We were all born with golden opportunity and freedom just as our parents and grandparents had found. They fought, and they sacrificed, and many of them lost everything to preserve the basic foundations, the institutions, the traditions that define America and its greatness.
We want to do the same. I want to do the same. I want to do what I can to see to it that people who follow me have the same opportunities that I had. So that’s the mission behind these books. These books are written for ages 10 to 13, but everybody will enjoy these books. Everybody that’s read them does. In fact, even adults who have read these books have told us that they are learning things they didn’t know about the Pilgrims and things that happened either before they set sail, while they were en route, and after they got here.
Rush Revere is able to take students, a few students, with them on their time travels. And Rush Revere — is this not a brilliant concept or what, folks? I mean, this kind of a vehicle provides creative opportunities galore. Rush Revere is able to take his smartphone, a built-in video camera, with him as they time travel back to American history. They’re able to videotape what actually happened, bring it back to the classroom, and without giving away that they time travel. The whole class doesn’t know this, just a select few know it. And it’s the mixing of the secret of the time travel with two or three, four students involved, everybody keeping it a secret and yet the truth of American history being taught in a genuinely fun, truthful, informative way.
Look, I love very much what I do here. I’m very proud of what I do, proud of what I’ve become, and I’m really proud of being an American and proud of what I believe. How to get it to ’em? Bingo! Rush Revere and the First Patriots, the second book.
END ARCHIVE CLIP
MARK: And we should say that that talking horse is such a genius that he was able to get Rush Revere into Buckingham Palace with George III. You don’t have to give away any secrets ’cause the two of you are credited as coauthors. Is Liberty, the talking horse, your creation, Kathryn?
KATHRYN: I’ll say it’s both of our creation. But Rush definitely put life to Liberty. He’s the one who had the voice behind Liberty. But we wanted to make it fun. You know, that was the one thing with American history. We knew it was out there, perhaps not accurate, but we knew it was out there in schools, but it wasn’t told in a fun way, so we put our heads together and said how can we come up with a way that will be really fun for young readers to experience and really understand American history as opposed to just memorizing for a test? So Liberty the horse was the vehicle to do that. And Liberty was very funny. Actually, I will say that our old English sheepdog Abbey — (laughing) — is probably the role model for Liberty and maybe the inspiration.
MARK: Well, they’re incredible books. I took my hat off at Rush Revere actually getting through the doors of Buckingham Palace. That was a great moment. It’s Kathryn Limbaugh on the Rush Limbaugh Show, very special edition. Your calls straight ahead.
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MARK: The one and only Rush Limbaugh Show. Nothing like it in a century of broadcasting in the United States. The Rush Limbaugh Show today with special guest Kathryn Limbaugh. Gemma in Greensboro, Georgia. Gemma, you’re live with Kathryn.
CALLER: Thank you, Mark. First, my condolences, Kathryn — and to you, Mark, in the passing of a friend. My… I don’t have a question. I had a little tribute, if you will, to compare Rush to the great Winston Churchill. While they were separated by continents, time, and spheres of influence, each man had an uncanny ability to really see political figures and their ideologies.
Both were great orators, passionate, patriotic men who loved their countrymen with abandon. Their respective bodies of their life’s work was extraordinary, and we all are the great beneficiaries of their passion, their loyalty, and their love.
And I know Churchill told Parliament in his final speech, “Never flinch, never worry, never despair.” So I guess my message is to all the Rush listeners and mourners, “Don’t worry. Better times ahead. (choking up) God bless you all, and God bless Rush.”
KATHRYN: Thank you, Gemma, so much for that comparison. I should say that that’s one that I have said about Rush many, many times privately. It’s known within our family. In fact, we have a painting of Winston Churchill in Rush’s library, and I would often say to him that he is America’s Winston Churchill.
And the truth is, it’s not time to panic. There will be no other Rush Limbaugh ever. We all know that. But I hope that all of us will find it within ourselves to carry on his message, his legacy, and everything that he believed in — in some way — in our own lives.
MARK: Let’s go quickly to Gracie in New York. Gracie, what’s your question for Kathryn?
CALLER: I have a comment. Kathryn, thank you so much for doing this for his listeners. We need this time together. I’ve listened to my Rush since the first week in July 1988. I told my husband that I had accidentally turned on the car radio and I heard the most beautiful, intelligent voice which articulated what I believed.
You know, back then we conservatives thought we were the dummies. Rush said that it would take three to six weeks to understand him. But I was hooked by the end of the first week. Kathryn, if someone said something critical about my Rush, I always asked them, “Listen. Do you listen to him?” And most of the time they say, “No.”
I said, “Well, at least listen to his top-of-the-hour monologue.” He was our college professor who explained issues clearly and concisely. Kathryn, thank you again for doing this for us. God bless you and keep you safe. I loved Rush so much. And believe it or not I got condolence calls, ’cause they know how much I love him. So I’ll keep praying for you, Kathryn.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
CALLER: God bless you.
KATHRYN: Thank you. God bless you. And, Gracie, he is your Rush, and he is all of our Rush and forever will be. And I know we will have heavy hearts for quite a long time. But as far as everyone who criticized or wrote things about him that are not accurate or not true, hopefully all of us in his Rush Army will be able to counter that and prove how incredibly brilliant and wonderful and unique he was and always will be.
MARK: Yes. That’s right, Kathryn. The Rush Army — and that is one mighty, awesome, powerful army. This is the Rush Limbaugh Show with special guest Kathryn Limbaugh. Kathryn’s gonna stay over into the next hour, so do call 1-800-282-2882.
ANNOUNCER: A celebration of life, celebrating the life of Rush Limbaugh on the EIB Network.
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MARK: The Rush Limbaugh Show across the United States, now in its 33rd year, and we aren’t going anywhere. We will be in this time slot tomorrow and through all the days ahead. We are blessed today with a very special guest, the love of Rush’s life, Kathryn Limbaugh, and Kathryn will be back with us in the next hour.
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MARK: This is a special edition of the Rush Limbaugh Show with a very special guest, Rush’s beloved Kathryn. As Kathryn told us in the first hour, because of COVID you can’t have a big memorial service with thousands of people; so Kathryn is planning a virtual memorial service, as she told us, and we’ll keep you up to date as the various dates and plans and all the details of that emerge.
Kathryn has very kindly agreed to stay on and take a few more of your calls. So let’s not waste any time. Let’s go to John in St. Louis, Missouri, which is really Rush’s neck of the woods. John, you’re live with Kathryn Limbaugh.
CALLER: Kathryn, my condolences.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
CALLER: I really appreciate what you and your husband did, especially for us who are retired military. I’m a retired military doctor, and — as you heard — from Rush’s home state of Missouri, and I want to thank and salute both of you for the support of our active duty military and our retirees as well as the veterans who had to stand in line for help for so many years.
And we adore our United States military and know the sacrifice that they make, and you make, and their families make on our behalf. So we will always continue to support the military through our foundation and other endeavors that we will do going forward. But, yes, it was a very big passion of ours.
CALLER: (unintelligible)
MARK: You know, the… Carry on, John.
CALLER: My salute to both of you — and to you, Mark — for always supporting us in our fight for freedom.
MARK: Thank you, John. I just wanted pick up on John’s point there, because people may not know this, Kathryn, but it wasn’t just military charities or public fundraising operations when you did the Betsy Ross T-shirts and things like that. There are all kinds of odd people who are just individuals whose plight happened to be brought to Rush’s attention —
KATHRYN: yes.
MARK: — and he did things for them without any publicity, without anybody knowing about it.
KATHRYN: Absolutely. I think that’s one thing about Rush that isn’t as widely known because he didn’t do things for the reason of fame or recognition or trying to get kudos anywhere. He did it because he truly cared, and I can tell you countless numbers of people were directly helped by his generosity over the years. We did things in a small-scale way or in a more grand, public way such as the Stand Up for Betsy Ross campaign.
But, yes, Rush never, ever forgot anyone along the way who helped him reach his pinnacle of success. He heard stories of individuals that were going through perhaps cancer or other things in their lives and he found a way to help them directly. And that’s something that was not really highly told over the years or really publicized or written about, but it certainly should be part of his legacy. He’s one of the most generous people and celebrities that you could ever find.
MARK: You know, I’ve heard so many stories just in the last few days — people have bombarded me with them — that I hope I’ll be forgiven if I get some of the details wrong. But one of them was the father of somebody shipped out to Afghanistan. He’s over there in some miserable barrack in Helmand Province, where you can’t step outside without everybody trying to blow you away.
It’s not the greatest place in the world to be, and somehow the dad got notice, got notice of Rush’s shipment over to his son, and that kid out there in Helmand Province got all these gifts directly from Rush and was emailing directly from Rush in the hell of Helmand Province in Afghanistan.
KATHRYN: Absolutely. And that was him to the core. I would say that he donated millions and millions and millions of dollars over the years and did other things beyond just financial to help people in various ways. But that was never publicized particularly. You would hear about things now and again, but not in the way that perhaps other celebrities received the recognition.
Rush really didn’t do it for that reason. But, yes, there were many, many individuals that he would personally call and talk to about what they were going through to either inspire them in the way that he could financially or just be there and support them by talking to them on the phone. And, yes, there’s countless examples of that over the years.
MARK: Well, that was a great question from John because there is certainly a special connection between Rush and the military.
KATHRYN: One thing I should say, Mark, as well, is that Rush and I established a foundation not too long ago, and we will continue to support the military, our police, our first responders. Those were all very, very, very important to Rush. And we will be continuing to support all of those individuals in any way that we can.
MARK: Well, that’s terrific news. John rightly identified that special connection with the military and with law enforcement. And I think you may find this next question touches on matters rather closer to home, though, Kathryn.
KATHRYN: (chuckles)
MARK: Beth from Alabaster, Alabama. You are live with Kathryn Limbaugh. What’s your question for Kathryn?
CALLER: Thank you, Kathryn. First, I wanted to thank you for doing the show today. It means so much to all of us Dittoheads, and maybe you can make this a monthly feature.
KATHRYN: (laughing) Well, I don’t know. (laughing)
CALLER: (laughing)
KATHRYN: I’m definitely not America’s Anchorman. But I will fill in now and again.
CALLER: But it shows a different side of Rush. You know, he was very private, and we appreciated that, but it’s kind of neat to hear you and your insight. I’m very nervous, and I’m gonna try not to cry. So I’m gonna try to keep this light, but I have been with Rush since Day One. And my oldest son was born on his two-year anniversary, so it’s easy for me to know how many years Rush has been on.
And I also wanted to thank you for your courage last Wednesday in coming on the show to tell us yourself. You just made it so much easier to bear in some way. It was special to hear the bad news that way instead of just hearing it on the news or somebody that didn’t love Rush the way you do. But I have a girl question.
My girl question is… I have more than these questions, but I decided on this, and it’s what I told Bo. We would like to hear the Medal of Freedom story one day. But my girl questions are, “What was your first date like, and what was maybe your most unique date?” And maybe gifts, too, if you want to expand on that.
And I’m very happy to be able to be here with you and share directly with you, as I know Rush would want. But in terms our first date, I know I told you earlier that he was on the C-list (laughs) when we first met and we were friends and he quickly became an A-lister in my book.
And so he invited me to dinner as just a friend and we went to dinner here in Palm Beach at a restaurant, a favorite restaurant of his, and he drove separately from myself. However, we met in the restaurant, and he was such a gentleman. From the moment that we first sat down, he did everything that you would expect a total gentleman to do.
He was very kind. He was so well spoken, obviously. He had a lot to talk about. And he was very intriguing from the first moment we met. However, we were just friends. He would laugh at this story, but we were buddies. He called it “the buddy rules.” (laughs) We were buddies for a period of time even after that date.
And it just flourished from there, and we became more than that. And in terms of you asked about unique gifts, he really gave me many. As a bit of a joke, he loved tech, and he always tried to get me interested in tech. So I believe he always gave me an iPhone (laughs) or something related to tech which wasn’t particularly romantic. (laughs) But he did supplement that as well with very romantic gifts.
And one of our favorite trips was we went to Monaco for one of our anniversaries. And that was something that Rush wanted to do and I wanted to do, and I would say that was one of the most special trips that we had because he was able to be somewhat normal and not as well recognized there. So we went out to dinner together, and he didn’t have to hide (laughs) as much as he would here. And it was wonderful. So I would say that was probably one of our most unique trips and gifts that he gave me.
MARK: Why did he want to go to Monaco in particular, Kathryn?
KATHRYN: I’m not sure. It was just one that was on his bucket list, and he had been many places in Europe, and I grew up in Europe partly, in London and other places. He always had Monaco on his mind. Possibly he wanted to dress up like James Bond (laughing) and look wonderful in a tux. I’m not sure. But —
MARK: (laughing) Did you go to the casino there?
KATHRYN: We did. We did. We did. We dressed up. We did the whole thing. He wore a tux, I wore a very nice dress, and we went to the casino and all of it. It was wonderful.
MARK: Oh, okay. That’s great.
KATHRYN: We stayed right there in the square in Monaco, so our patio was overlooking the casino itself. It was beautiful.
MARK: Yeah. There’s not a lot of it. It’s just a couple of square miles there.
KATHRYN: Right. (laughs)
MARK: It’s like fun to — and as you said for Rush, it’s like a place he can go and he’s not gonna be pestered by people every five feet or so as he walks through the street.
KATHRYN: Absolutely. It took a while. (laughing) He was noticed, but just not as instantly. (laughing)
MARK: (laughing) Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. It’s pretty much anywhere on the planet for that. This is a special edition of the Rush Limbaugh Show with Kathryn Limbaugh taking your calls on 1-800-282-2882. And we’ll have more straight ahead.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
MARK: The Rush Limbaugh Show with special guest Kathryn Limbaugh. Gill in Atlanta, Georgia, you’re next with Kathryn. What’s on your mind?
CALLER: Hi, Kathryn. And thank you so much, Kathryn, for giving us the opportunity to speak with you today. I know it takes a lot of courage.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
KATHRYN: Thank you. And you’re absolutely right. I think the best gift that we can possibly give to Rush as he looks down on us from heaven, is to continue what he stood for in the best possible way. And through all of you, through Rush’s Army, I know we can do that in various ways. You’re 100 percent right. That’s the best thing we can do is not panic, not give up, and continue on his mission in his honor.
MARK: Let’s go to Cindy in Winter Haven, Florida. Cindy, you’re live with Kathryn.
CALLER: Hi, Kathryn! I’m so happy to hear from you — or talk to you. Rush was like a dad to me. He was the first person I listened to in 1988 when I was a junior in high school, and I was like, “Oh, my gosh. He sounds just like my dad is talking to me.” And when my dad passed away, I just listened to him every day and was just so thrilled because it was like I was still hearing my dad. So I miss him, and we love you, and we pray for you every day.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
CALLER: My question is, I’m a homeschool mom, have been. I homeschooled my four kids. And I now homeschool my grandkids. And they’re 5 and 8, and we’re working through the Rush Revere books. And we’re using your unit studies online. And are you going to expand on them? And will you expand your series at all? Because that would be amazing to be able to continue that with my grandchildren as they grow up.
KATHRYN: Oh, thank you so much, Cindy. I really, really appreciate it. Getting right to the books themselves, we do hope to continue the series and expand on them as Rush would like. We are also looking at possibly doing a cartoon that specifically focuses on fun American history and true accurate American history. So there are some things in the works we do want to continue that project on since that was very much a passion of Rush’s. I don’t know exactly when we will be able to, but we certainly hope to in the months and years ahead.
KATHRYN: Yes, it was. We stopped at the presidency, but we’re going to continue on we hope. But that was the original plan, that we would continue on in history from the early days of our founding on straightforward. So we have plenty of topics to cover and plenty of books to write at the right time.
MARK: Well, that’s very good news. And I hope you will keep doing that because it’s a wonderfully original angle. It’s a very clever angle on history because you’ve got a contemporary perspective on ancient times because you’ve got a teacher and his pupils actually in the events they’re studying. It’s a very clever concept.
KATHRYN: Thank you. That’s exactly what we wanted. We wanted the young reader or any readers to be able to go right to the scene of the action, instead of just hearing about it, we hoped that they could time travel back to whatever was happening at that period of time and really learn about it by seeing it and witnessing it and even talking to some of the patriots of that time. So some of the young schoolchildren that traveled as part of Rush Revere’s crew, they would talk to George Washington or they would talk to others and be able to experience history firsthand in a fun way.
MARK: Now, you’re billed on the cover of those books at Kathryn Adams Limbaugh. Is that because you’re a great, great, great whatever of John Adams and those guys?
KATHRYN: Yes. The great John Adams I should add. (laughing)
MARK: Yes. (laughing)
KATHRYN: Yes, actually through my mother’s side of the family we do — I’m originally from New England, and my mother’s side of the family is from New England. And, yes, it dates back to John Adams.
MARK: Wow. That’s amazing. ‘Cause actually Rush was serious about history —
KATHRYN: Yes.
MARK: — and he thought that it wasn’t the past, it actually lived and breathed and taught us lessons right now.
KATHRYN: Absolutely. In addition to Winston Churchill, I often said that Rush was a modern-day Founding Father, and I think he was in many respects that I could compare him to many of the Founding Fathers. But, yes, he adored history as did I. So I hope that we certainly will continue writing the books and doing cartoons and other things.
MARK: Well, I hope you do too. One of the loveliest things on this show the last few years has been when Rush has had a 10-year-old or a 12-year-old on the phone with him talking about how much they love those books. That was wonderful and completely unexpected from Rush and in a sense a gift to the nation —
KATHRYN: Yes.
MARK: — via Rush from you. A wonderful thing. Kathryn Limbaugh is with us on a very special edition of the Rush Limbaugh Show. The Rush Limbaugh Show isn’t going anywhere. We are right here as we have been for over 32 years. Lots more still to come.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
MARK: Mark Steyn here, but with a very special guest, Kathryn Limbaugh, as you know about 15 minutes ago it was suggested by one of our callers that Kathryn should make this a regular gig, and then an amazing number — I’ve just been looking at Twitter — an amazing number of people, and by emails, people seem to be seconding that so we may have to have Johnny Donovan do the America’s Anchorwoman or America’s Anchorlady idents for Kathryn.
Let us go to Carrie in Wolfe City, Texas. Carrie, you’re live with Kathryn.
CALLER: Hi, Kathryn. Hi, Mark. I just wanted to offer my condolences.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
CALLER: I’ve known Rush since I was 10-year-old. So I’ve known him my whole life and I feel his loss so deeply. And I was just wondering if there was a particular charity that I could make a contribution to or a donation to in his honor. I know it wouldn’t even do justice to the way that I feel about him, but I just feel like I need to do something.
CALLER: I’ll make sure and do that, then. He just really means a lot to me.
KATHRYN: Thank you very much. I know that they are starting a specific scholarship in Rush’s name, so I think that would be wonderful and kind of you.
CALLER: Well, thank you for taking my call.
KATHRYN: Thank you.
MARK: Tell us a bit about this foundation that you and Rush started, Kathryn.
MARK: And that’s actually part of your background, isn’t it? Because as I mentioned at the top of the show, you were with the Gary Player Foundation, and he started up — he’s the greatest South African golfer of all time and he started a foundation that is primarily to benefit children.
KATHRYN: Yes. Throughout my life I’ve been involved with charity in some capacity. My mother was a diplomat. My father went to the Naval Academy and was in business. So we lived overseas the majority of my life. And in those years, we would do things with the local communities and that started my passion for charity and helping others. And now we continue to do so in various ways. But I absolutely see our foundation continuing and helping families and organizations that we love.
MARK: Okay. That’s great news. The other thing I mentioned at the top of the show was the story behind how you met, and here’s Rush recalling that, and also what he calls the happiest weekend of his life.
BEGIN ARCHIVE CLIP
RUSH: So everybody has been saying, “What are you going to say about your wedding on the radio?” And I said, “I really don’t know. I’ll figure out what to say when the microphone goes on.” I never plan things. We do things improv here.
This was such a memorable affair. Nobody who was there will ever forget this if I do say so myself. (laughing) I’m getting a bunch of echoes now from members of the highly overrated staff who were invited and who were there. A lot of people said, “Where’s the pictures?” Same thing. We did not allow cameras. We allowed no cameras, no personal cameras, no personal video phones. The only pictures there are, are those taken by the four or five professionals that we hired to run around at the luau that we did on Friday night prior to the wedding on Saturday and then during the wedding, the reception dinner and the after-dinner concert. We haven’t seen the pictures yet.
Now, folks, a lot of you want to know about Kathryn. “Why didn’t you say anything about this?” I’ve been on the radio here for 20-plus years, and a lot of what I’ve done in my private life has been lived in public, and I just decided, no more. We want to try to be as normal as we can. Now, we know that we’re not going to be able to live anonymously, but we can forestall some media attention by not seeking it, and we didn’t in this case.
But I have known Kathryn for six years. I met Kathryn when she was running the foundation for Gary Player, and part of that job was to put together celebrity golf tournaments for Gary Player at various places. One of them was up at Wayne Huizenga’s course in Palm City at the Floridian. And for the first three years I went up there I never met Kathryn. It was always e-mail invitations, and I came to find out that she didn’t even want to invite me, that it took a friend of hers, “You gotta get Rush Limbaugh.” She said, “Rush Limbaugh?” She only knew of me as I was portrayed in public.
Well, when that happens you look to the right. When I looked to my right there was nobody there. So I look to my left. Another tap, “Hi, I’m Kathryn.” So I looked to my left finally and there she is in white slacks, long flowing blonde hair and I saw her from the rear first. She’s congratulating everybody else in line, saying hi to everybody, and one thing led to another, she ended up working for National Football League liaising with the local host committees for Super Bowls every year.
And it just built over time, over six years, and, folks, I know many of you have followed my life since we got to know each other, and I think — well, no, I know that I got it right. Like Winston Churchill said, “Never, never, never give up.” If you’re out there thinking all this kind of happiness is going to elude you, forget it. It will either slap you upside the face or you’ll find it one way or the other, and I hope that you find as much happiness as I have. I would love to tell you some of the details about the wedding, but I wouldn’t know where to start and I wouldn’t know where to stop.
We wanted to put on a grand two-day party in our hometown here for our friends and associates. We wanted to do this and just blow it out, and we wanted everybody to have the best time they’ve ever had. Kathryn planned the entire thing, every detail.
You’ve heard that Elton John performed at the wedding. This is all true and I’ll tell you about that in just a second. You know, it is very instructive to find out that all of these supposed tolerant, loving, open-minded people on the left have given him such grief for performing at our wedding. He has really caught hell for this. He doesn’t care. We’ve been in contact with him, but he doesn’t care. It was amazing what he did. The performance that he put on for us, it was 75 minutes, it was specifically tailored to our circumstances.
We wanted to make everybody a part of it. We wanted everybody to feel they were there because we love ’em. Everybody there was there for a reason, because they mean something special, even you, Snerdly, everybody was there because they meant something special to us. And I’m not trying to ladle this on to make you feel like, “Oh, what did I miss?” I’m trying to share it with you after the fact. We did not want any news of this in advance. We didn’t want any prying eyes. We just didn’t want a circus atmosphere, which is the only reason why there was no advance notice of this from me.
I’ve got confidence in Kathryn. Anything she says she’s going to do is going to happen. I’m striving to have her look at me that way now, that anything I say — (laughing) — anyway, quick time-out. We’ll be back. I’ll tell you a little about the ceremony, and we’ll move on. And I’ll tell you how the Elton John thing came about since people who weren’t there are commenting on why he did it. It’s just been amazing to see all the criticism he’s gotten from his side of the aisle when we just elected a president who was all about unity, we were told, we’re supposed to join together, post-partisanship.
Well, here was some giant, big-time unity on the evening of Saturday, June 5th, and who the hell is mad at it? The left. Yeah, it was a party, but it was a meaningful wedding, it was a heartfelt ceremony and so forth and everybody involved had a wonderful time. Yet these people have to run around and try to denigrate Elton John for deigning to do this. It’s very instructive, folks, very instructive about the left and who they really are and what they’re all about.
END ARCHIVE CLIP
MARK: I love the way Rush deploys Winston Churchill’s words to buck up his majesty’s dominions in the depths of war to encourage you to go out and do what he did and find the great love of your life. Kathryn will take more of your calls straight ahead.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
MARK: The Rush Limbaugh Show with special guest Kathryn Limbaugh. Let’s go to Zoe in Champaign, Illinois. Zoe, what’s your question for Kathryn?
CALLER: Kathryn, I just want to thank you for allowing your listeners to grieve along with you and to share in that and to acknowledge, as you have, what we’re going through and how hard it is. Not everyone would do that, and I just want to thank you for that. Your graciousness is amazing. And we do want more of the Kathryn Show.
KATHRYN: (laughs)
CALLER: (laughs) And I just wanted to say really quickly how I came to listen. I was with Rush from the very beginning. Well, almost. My mother was really in the beginning, and I was in the car with her one day in the very beginning, and she said, “Oh, you should listen to him. You would really like him.”
And all I heard was he was kind of loud. It wasn’t the politics or anything. And I said, “Oh, I don’t think so.” Well, within about two days I was completely on board. Because I took the time to listen to him and I found out he was just a lovable, little fuzzball. (laughing)
KATHRYN: That’s right.
CALLER: (laughing) It’s true, he’s that one.
KATHRYN: Exactly right. He’s incredibly charming. He hooked you in a couple of days. That’s exactly right. (laughing)
CALLER: He did, and I never looked back. I just want to thank you, and it’s really helping me. I knew this day was gonna come and it was gonna be hard, but I didn’t… I don’t think I really realized the grief that I would feel. And to know that the show is gonna go on is such a comfort to some of us, because many of us have said, “What are we gonna do now?” and think it still being there is helping me to hang on. Thank you so much, Kathryn.
KATHRYN: You’re welcome. Thank you.
CALLER: (audio drop) … a little bit too. I knew you were very special to have come into Rush’s life as you did, and now I know more about you. I’m so grateful for that, too.
KATHRYN: Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate it, and I’m so happy to be here with you, and I think it helps us both. So thank you very much.
KATHRYN: (laughs)
MARK: — and, in the end, you are a grieving wife like any other grieving wife except you have to share it with all these other people, and that’s not the easiest thing to do, and you’ve been incredibly kind to give us your time today.
KATHRYN: Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. And again, I’m so sorry for everyone’s loss, including mine.
MARK: Well, I took note of that song you mentioned that you and Rush particularly liked, and we’re gonna get to that before today’s show is out. Kathryn Limbaugh, thank you very much. We’ll be back in just a moment.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
MARK: Thank you so much to Kathryn Limbaugh for spending the last two hours with us on the Rush Limbaugh Show. For our final hour we will hear… How do they say? Not “better half.” That is the missus, isn’t it? The not-so-better half. We are going to hear Rush, his voice — a magnificent radio voice, a truly great radio voice. Not just because of the vocal timbre, but because of everything he said as well.
And so we’re gonna get in tons of Rush in the last hour and we will also have a little bit of a farewell to Kathryn from me as well as. That’s coming up on the one and only Rush Limbaugh Show.
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