He had little tolerance for Fox News or Rush Limbaugh talking points and punctured quite a few right wing gas bags who called his show.

His food show was non-political. His enthusiasm for good food and wine was contagious. I always wanted to drive to the City and eat at the places he talked about, or fly to France, Italy, or some other distant place to sample the restaurants there.

I was not a regular listener but I didn't find his show impossible to listen too, unlike KGO's Ronn Owens who represents just about everything that is wrong with today's mass media. (Owen's fawning coverage of the conquest of Iraq was disgusting... I was very happy when I got an internet connection fast enough to stream the BBC, Al Jazeera, and other international news radio stations.)

Sad news about Burns, but I think the gentleman lived his life well and will be missed by many people.