Kathryn Limbaugh reflects on the legacy of her husband

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Availability may vary by market. Almost every American family knows the pain when a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness. Here tonight is a special man beloved by millions of Americans who just received a stage four advanced cancer diagnosis. This is not good news, but what is good news is that he is the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever meet, Rush Limbaugh.

I am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And with that, the medal was put around his neck and clearly moved Rush Limbaugh and one of the great highlights of his illustrious career and his life. Joining us now to talk more about this based off the book and the rush she knew is Rush's wife, Catherine Adams Limbaugh. You put together a book called Radio's Greatest of All Time with David Limbaugh, his great brother.

Catherine, welcome to the Brian Kilmeach show. Thanks so much. Thank you so much, Brian. That was wonderful to hear again. I didn't know you're going to play that. That really touched my heart.

Thank you so much. What was that like for you? You were there, right? I was. It was it was incredible.

You know, the very brief story is that we had no idea that this was going to happen. We actually flew up to Boston where Rush was going to have an operation the very next morning and we got a call from President Trump saying that you really have to be in Washington tonight. And so we were there and it was a complete surprise and it was unbelievably humbling. It was it was wonderful in every way. Rush was touched beyond belief and it was wonderful. I just love the recounting of his story in your book and you were kind enough to mail one to my house with an autograph and I can't thank you enough for that. But I imagine it's going to be the biggest Christmas seller especially because Rush means so much to so many people.

Even if you're in radio period, it doesn't matter if you're a commentator or a DJ, he means a lot. And his story is such a American story, an unlikely success story. And you write in the book and we can't wear Rush's words that he goes up to his dad after a year in college, go listen, I'm not into school. I want to go. I want to go start my career. And his dad was horrified. He's from the Depression, World War II.

If you didn't have a college education, you go nowhere. He said, I'm just going to go be a commentator. You know, I'm going to go do radio. I like William F. Buckley. I love listening to you.

So I'm going to do it myself. How did that conversation go? That's exactly right. Well, he hated school. He thought that school was prison for him.

So in elementary school, he used to say that painting was a waste of time. So from that day on, from elementary school onward, he really liked to learn in a different way. He very much was self-taught. He studied incredible patriots like William Buckley and Thatcher and Reagan. And early on, I think his parents were a little bit worried that the challenge of not really liking conventional school, but they quickly learned that he was brilliant, that he was going on a different path and that he was admiring some of the most incredible greats of our time and our history. He loved his parents. I think that he got a bit from both of them, from his father. His father was incredibly brilliant as well and used to speak to them in their living room at home as they were growing up about the politics of the day and important issues. And his mother was very much an entertainer and so funny.

And she gave that, I think, in many ways to Russia as well as being incredibly caring. So I think they said that he turned out okay, but they were a bit worried out of the gate, I think. So he writes, he gets an offer to go to, you know, he had that five years with the Royals and he said, I got a chance to meet doing sales, people I'll, you know, I would never have gotten a chance to meet, but he knew the corporate atmosphere was not for him, but famously he had great relationship with George Brett, the legend, Terry Royal third baseman that still existed till his last day. But he goes out to Sacramento and he said one of the things that really worked for him is all the focus was on the morning show, not on the afternoon show. So they put all this money into the morning show and everyone's focused there and Rush could just do his own thing. And there he took root and took off. What did he tell you about that time because it's in the book?

That's exactly right. Well, first I should just say that this book is written by Rush. It's his words, we simply put everything together. And he started it right after that Medal of Freedom ceremony, in fact. And so he went through his life through a lot of very important times that he could remember as he reflected back on his extraordinary life. And he did talk about Sacramento quite a bit because he was fired so many times as many know who are listening who followed Rush over the years. He was always a little controversial, so to speak. He hated that word, but he always said that he was a tad controversial.

So when he went to Sacramento, it was the first time that he could be himself. He could be the entertaining figure, the brilliant figure. He could talk about politics and that's where everything started to take off for him. He really loved radio from the time that he was a young kid. He used to hang around as an intern when he was around 8, 10, 12, 15. He was always around the radio station in Cape Toronto, Missouri.

And then he went on to numerous jobs. He was a DJ and so forth, but he had such a passion for speaking directly to people in a way that only Rush could. He was so funny. He was so brilliant. He loved our country. He loved the American people with all of his heart.

So from Sacramento on, he went to New York and the rest was history. He launched his national program and became the best of all time and always will be. This is Molly Hemingway, encouraging you to listen to my favorite podcast, issues, et cetera. Every day you get in-depth interviews with host Todd Wilkin asking expert guests, substantive, thought provoking questions on all of the important news and issues of our day. The expert guests are in culture, law, ethics, philosophy, theology, and apologetics.

Expert guests, expansive topics, always extolling Christ, issues, et cetera. Did he know you were putting together this book? He did. He did soon.

Well, actually, I should backtrack just briefly. And one thing I should say is he absolutely loved you, Brian. He thought that you were so funny. You brought humor to every day.

You're so clear and direct. And I know he would want me to say that to you, but yes, he did. He watched you every day actually on Fox and Friends. But in addition to that, he did know about this book because he was asked to write something similar years and years ago and being typical rush, he said that how can I possibly pick from such words of wisdom over so many years? But after his diagnosis, I think he really wanted to reflect on his life and he started to do that. So we spent a lot of time together where he would tell me about important moments in his life.

A lot of them were on the radio, some were off the radio. And I think what's different about this book is that it is Russia's words directly. And it unfolds so much like a Rush Limbaugh show program. There's monologues, there's jokes, there's wonderful pictures, but it's rush shining through his optimism, his inspiration, his love for our country, his perseverance in his own life, because he did go through many obstacles in his life.

And I think that he wanted to leave this for the American people and for his listeners and everyone, especially leading into such an important election. He wanted people to know that the best days are ahead. And that's really the purpose of this book.

So here's a little of Rush in action, an excerpt from the special we did on Rush in his life, Cut 33. I think the natural spirit of the human being is freedom. That's the natural spirit of our creation.

That's the yearning that we have is to be free. And conservatism is simply freedom. Nobody can blow up that bond that Trump voters have. The Washington establishment to this day does not understand Donald Trump. They don't understand his voters and they're not curious to find out why. I've always been oriented on the conservative side of things.

Never ever wavered, was never tempted by anything else. We're Americans, which means we have the freedom to invest in whatever it is that makes us happy. That's in our founding documents. Just wanted to share that with people at home that this is just what he believes, what he said. That's an excerpt could be on any show and not that he ever repeated himself.

But if you have those foundations, you can ride through any issue, correct? That's right. And, you know, he was such a friend on the radio. He was such a family member to so many people because he said exactly what he believed in that way. He believes so much in the freedom of our country, in American exceptionalism, in the American dream. He wanted so many people to hold onto that and never be put into stereotypes and all of these different categories that we now have to face in our current culture. He wanted people to say our country is the greatest.

It was founded by our original founding fathers. I tend to say that that Russia is a modern day founding father, that George Washington of radio in many ways, but he was so optimistic. He was so patriotic. He wanted every person who was an American to know that we're free, that we can be anything that we want to be, that we're not bound by obstacles, that sometimes can cause limitations other places. And he believed exactly what he said on the radio and talked directly to people one-on-one as if they were a family member or brother or father figure.

Right. And to be the best at something, have the most success, be the most successful guy on radio and not get caught up in it and be that everyday person that you can approach. I remember one of the first times I saw him was at the White House at the Christmas party. I'm thinking to myself, I know he's mentioned me and used some cuts on the radio, but I'll introduce myself. And he was going through his problems with hearing for a while. And I said, you know, if he blows me off, it's okay.

But I just want to introduce myself. And he couldn't have been nicer. And the whole world stopped. We started engaging. I'm thinking to myself, okay, this is George W. Bush's Christmas party. Everybody wants to talk to him. But he just sat and zoned in.

And I thought, man, if you could be the best in the business, sought after by everyone, everywhere you go, people know your name and still be able to listen to people and interact like that. Man, that is indeed a goal. I want you to hear, if we share with all of us, with our audience and with you, Rush Limbaugh, December 23, 2020, talking about our country, obviously after the election. And a lot of people were down because President Trump had lost.

Cut 35. If disaster is coming our way, we don't just sit there and endure it. We come up with ways to avoid it, to beat it back, to overcome it, but we don't just sit there and accept it. And as such, we don't just resign ourselves to the fact that we're living in the darkest days, because we, at least to this point, still have the greatest degree of freedom of any people on Earth. Now, it's under assault and under attack, and we all know this. But I don't believe our darkest days are ahead of us.

I never have. Like people have been asking, you've always told us it'd be time to panic. It's never time to panic, folks. It's never, ever going to be time to give up on our country. It'll never be time to give up on the United States.

It'll never be time to give up on yourself. And as we get to the midterms, Catherine, and you see a lot of Republicans feel a lot of optimism about taking the House and Senate, state's houses, governorships, and where the country is right now. What do you think he'd be saying? Oh, he'd be thrilled to see what's going to happen on Tuesday. If we stay positive, we all get out and vote.

There's some great candidates. I know he'd be inspired and happy about that. And he would definitely continue with what he always said was it's never time to panic.

It's never time to give up on America. Our best days are ahead. And I think he'd be encouraged. I know over the course of the last year or so, year and a half, he wouldn't have been. He would have been quite terrified, as most people probably are, who aren't happy with the election results. But he would be very encouraged about Tuesday. And he doesn't want us to focus on doom. He'd want us to be as optimistic as we could. And I think he'd be rallying everyone to get out their vote and make it a huge, a huge win. I know you're on a book tour and it was and it was seven o'clock last night.

So I wouldn't doubt that you were probably out to eat. But did you see the president's speech last night? And what do you think, Rush? And what do you think about it? What do you think he would have thought about?

Yes, I did. Unfortunately, I tend to pay quite a bit of attention and did see it. And I think he would have been, you know, disappointed as everyone is and quite dismayed by how they're trying to tie certain things together. And what he probably would have done is not given any attention to it whatsoever, because it probably doesn't deserve it. And he would have said, this is exactly why we need to win on Tuesday.

And we have five days left to do it. The latest book is called Radio's Greatest of All Time. Catherine Limbaugh put together this compilation of Rush Limbaugh's life and career and how he got to where he was after, of course, his passing a short time ago. Catherine, what do you miss most about him? He was the most loving, the most encouraging. He was so humble. He was my best friend in many ways. I miss his voice on the radio as millions of people do his unwavering optimism.

Whenever you were having a bad day, you could turn on Rush and somehow he would get you through it. And he was like that at home as well. He was actually quite a hermit. I know he wouldn't mind me saying that he liked to be quite quiet at home, which is ironic, since he would talk for three hours nonstop. But I love that about him. I love that he was one thing on the radio in terms of how much he wanted to talk and be nonstop. And then when he got home, he just loved to play with his tech. He loved to watch shows. He was just an average ordinary guy. And then during the rest of the day, he was he was the George Washington of radio. So I miss that humble nature of his and his loving heart. I'm sure you love that you're out there talking about the book, talking about him and of course, being able to talk about the news.

Listen, if you if you like Rush and if you like this show, you probably love Rush. Go out and get this book. It's the Christmas gift that you are guaranteed to be successful with. If you want to get something thoughtful, you don't know exactly what to get.

This is it. You're not going to regret it. But your biggest problem is is keeping it shut and wrapping it up and not looking at it yourself.

So you might as well get to Catherine. Thanks so much for mailing it. And thanks for your kind words. And I remember I wrote I wrote Rush just to ask how he was. And he said, Well, I'm trying, he says I'm trying to stay above ground.

And I said every show to me, when I listened to you, I seems like every show to me sounds like your first like you're so enthusiastic. And he wrote me back the nicest reply. I'm thinking all the pain he was in all the problems he had, what he must have been thinking, he still took time to return emails. And I'm just all of his life and the way it ended.

You know, Brian, that's right. He never phoned it in much like you. He was incredibly hardworking. He never ever thought that he reached the pinnacle of success that he did. Every day was a new day for him. He wanted to be the best for all of his listeners. He took it so seriously. He he could have given up so much sooner. And he never did. He was on the radio just days prior. And Catherine, I'm sure you know, which is from being around Rush, we had a heartbreak. It was a thrill talking to you. Thanks so much.