Larry Elder


Laurence Allen Elder is an American libertarian talk radio host, author, attorney, and documentary filmmaker who hosts The Larry Elder Show. The show began as a local program on Los Angeles radio station KABC in 1993 and ran until 2008, followed by a second run on KABC from 2010 to 2014. The show is nationally syndicated, first through ABC Radio Networks from 2002 to 2007 and Salem Media Group since 2015. Elder has also written nonfiction books and a nationally syndicated column through Creators Syndicate.

Early life and education

Elder was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the city's Pico-Union and South Central areas. His father Randolph, who was born in Athens, Georgia, was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and moved to California from Georgia after the war during the Second Great Migration. After working as a janitor at Nabisco, Randolph opened a cafe in Pico-Union around 1962. Following his father's passing in 2011, Larry Elder recalled: "Gruff and blunt, my dad often intimidated my two brothers and me. But we never doubted his love or his commitment to his family." In 2013, Elder and his brother Kirk accepted a Congressional Gold Medal from U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher on their father's behalf. Larry Elder's mother Viola was originally from Toney, Alabama, and she was a clerical worker for the United States Department of War during World War II.
An honors student who also took advanced courses at Fairfax High School, Elder graduated from Crenshaw High School in 1970 and earned his B.A. in political science in 1974 from Brown University. He then earned his J.D. from University of Michigan Law School in 1977.

Legal career

After graduation, Elder joined the Cleveland law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. In 1980, he founded Laurence A. Elder and Associates, a legal executive search firm. Elder stepped down from operating Elder and Associates around 1987 but continued to own the firm until 1995. Around the time he ceded day-to-day operations of his former search firm, Elder spent more time reading and writing. Among the books he read were The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Media career

Television, film, and video

After a successful audition, Elder began co-hosting Fabric, a topic-oriented television show on PBS affiliate WVIZ produced by Dennis Goulden, in 1988.
In the early 1990s, the show's name was retitled The Larry Elder Show and moved to the local Fox Network affiliate WOIO and cable TV. Goulden and Elder won the Ohio Cable Television Association's "Best Program Series Award" in 1992 for their work on the show, which lasted until Elder in 1994 moved back to Los Angeles.
In 1997, Elder hosted the PBS program National Desk, including the segment "Redefining Racism: Fresh Voices From Black America," for which he won an AEGIS Award of Excellence, a Telly award, and an Emerald City Gold Award of Excellence.
Between 2000 and 2001, Elder hosted the court series Moral Court, distributed by Warner Brothers Television.
In September 2004, he began hosting a daytime TV talk show The Larry Elder Show, which was dropped on April 12, 2005, due to low ratings. Elder also won a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award in 2000 for his KCAL-TV News special Making Waves – LAUSD. He made cameos on sitcoms Spin City and The Hughleys. He is a columnist with Creators Syndicate. Elder's newspaper and online column is carried by Investor's Business Daily, World Net Daily, Townhall.com, Jewish World Review and Front Page Magazine.
In 2005, Elder created a self-financed film called Michael & Me, in which he refutes filmmaker Michael Moore's anti-gun politics and his assertions in Moore's documentary Bowling for Columbine.
Elder was one of the rotating talk hosts auditioning for the slot vacated by the now-canceled Imus in the Morning on MSNBC. However, the job went to Joe Scarborough instead.
On July 5, 2008, the pilot Showdown with Larry Elder aired on Fox News Channel. The show was not picked up.
As of 2020, Larry Elder currently makes videos on his YouTube for The Epoch Times and as of May 24, 2020, the channel has over 200,000 subscribers and 12.6 million views.

Radio

In 1993, Elder began hosting a weekday evening talk show on Los Angeles talk radio station KABC.
From 2002 to 2007, Elder's show was nationally syndicated by ABC Radio Networks and its news-talk network, ABC News & Talk. After Citadel Broadcasting took over most of ABC's radio operations in 2007, syndication of Elder's show was discontinued in favor of Mark Levin, and the show reverted to a local show in August of that year.
December 12, 2008, was his final day on KABC. Elder then began a daily live podcast as well as a webcast starting in December 2009. On September 27, 2010, Elder returned to KABC.
On December 2, 2014, Elder was fired from KABC following his afternoon airshift. On April 27, 2015, Elder was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Of the year's 30 honorees, Elder is the only one from the radio industry.
On June 1, 2015, Elder joined the lineup of CRN Digital Talk Radio Networks. His program is heard from noon to 3 PM on CRN Channel 1 and is replayed from 3 to 6 PM on CRN Channel 5.
In August 2015, The Larry Elder Show began national syndication through the Salem Radio Network, including Los Angeles station KRLA.

Writing

In the late 1980s, Elder wrote op-eds for local newspapers in Cleveland. In 1998, Elder began writing a nationally syndicated column through Creators Syndicate. Elder wrote a weekly column for the Los Angeles Daily News until April 2012.

Political views

Elder's political views are philosophically libertarian and have also been described as conservative, and he is a registered Republican. Following Elder's re-registering as a Republican, in a 2008 interview with The New Individualist Magazine he said, "A lot of my listeners will often call up and say, 'I preferred you when you were a Libertarian.' I always tell them I never was a 'capital-L Libertarian.' I am still 'small-l.' It's a philosophy to me, not a party." Elder supported presidential candidates Harry Browne in 2000, George W. Bush in 2004, and John McCain in 2008.
Roll Call reported that Elder contemplated a possible run for the United States Senate against California Senator Barbara Boxer in 2010.

Filmography