Larry Solov: Breitbart News Founder and President Reflects on Orson Bean’s Life and What He Meant to Breitbart Nation

Breitbart: Today, the world is mourning the loss of Orson Bean — a true American classic, an original thinker, an iconoclast, a comedic genius, a master of stagecraft, and one of the last great raconteurs of his generation. But for us, the loss is also much more personal. Orson was and will continue to be part of the Breitbart family. In fact, he was Andrew Breitbart’s father-in-law, and that relationship would prove to be very significant for not only Andrew, but for all of us here at Breitbart News.

When Andrew and his wife, Susie, were first dating, Andrew was just starting to undergo a transformation in his thinking that would later become his legacy and help shape his core principles. It is hard to overstate Orson’s role in that transformation. For those of you who have read Andrew’s last book, Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World, you probably already know the story:

One day I asked [my father-in-law Orson Bean] why he had Rush Limbaugh’s book The Way Things Ought to Be on his shelf. I asked him, “Why would you have a book by this guy?”

And Orson said, “Have you ever listened to him?”

I said yes, of course, even though I never had. I was convinced to the core of my being that Rush Limbaugh was a Nazi, anti-black, anti-Jewish, and anti–all things decent. Without berating me for disagreeing with him, Orson simply suggested that I listen to him again.

While I was listening to Jim Rome and Howard Stern, the intensity of the 1992 election cycle warranted that I switch the frequency over to hearing about the horse race.

This is where my rendezvous with destiny begins.

I turned on KFI 640 AM to listen to evil personified from 9 a.m. to noon. Indeed, my goal was to derive pleasure from the degree of evil I found in Rush Limbaugh. I was looking forward to a jovial discussion with Orson to confirm how right I was. One hour turned into three. One listening session into a week’s worth. And next thing I knew, I was starting to doubt my preprogrammed self. I was still a Democrat. I was still a liberal.

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