Radio Legend Tom Barnard Reflects On Difficult Youth

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - One of the most recognizable voices in Minnesota says he wants to be on the radio the rest of life.

Since 1986, people have been tuning in to 92.5 FM to hear Tom Barnard start their day.

He's grown to be a Minnesota icon who is open, honest and says exactly what's on his mind.

Barnard doesn't have a "radio persona": He's the same guy on the air as he is off the air.

Scott Jameson runs KQRS for Cumulus Broadcasting.

"Tom has been a ratings leader for 30 years," Jameson said.

The company says Barnard is simply irreplaceable. It's signed a new five-year contract. The company will pay him millions to just be himself.

"He's open and transparent and he's real," Jameson said. "One day he's crabby, the next day he's happy, the next day he's funny. Every day is what you and I are like, but he has the mouthpiece to say it."

Being so successful for so long is impressive, but when you understand how he grew up, it's pretty remarkable.

Barnard grew up in north Minneapolis, one of seven kids.

He said his life choices back then were basically get out or go to prison.

Walking in his old neighborhood, he stopped in front of a home on Russell Avenue North

"This particular house: There's not a whole lot of happy memories, a lot of misery in this one," he said.

He knew he was poor. Nine people were living in a three-bedroom house. To say times were tough is an understatement.

"We went for stretches where we literally ate fried bread dough and watermelon for six months because we couldn't afford any food," he said.

Despair was more prevalent than hope.

"You grow up in a neighborhood like this and you are convinced you've got no shot because you're told, 'Basically, I'm never going to make it out of here,' so why try?" he said.

But Barnard did try. He worked hard.

"I started work when I was 11 years old," he said. "I was a janitor, and I've been working ever since."

Mom worked hard too. She was a waitress in a diner. Dad, Barnard said, was the problem.

"My father was schizophrenic," he said. "It caused a lot of problems. And my mother -- he just wore her down."

Mental illness led to instability. Barnard said frequent evictions meant he lived in 43 different houses growing up.

As for his father: "He came back for a couple of months when I was 15 or 16, and then he left and I didn't see him until 17 years later when he died."

Even today, Barnard can't bring himself to forgive.

"My father and I never got along," he said. "You know, I wish I could tell you I loved my father, but I never did."

However, he certainly has great sympathy for people with mental illness.

"The torment that those people go through is horrible," he said.

Once he started making money in radio, Barnard made sure his mother never had to worry, or work, again. He bought her a home in Golden Valley.

Barnard eventually started to diversify and invest the money he made from radio and voiceover work.

Today, he's an investor in Barrio and five other restaurants. One of them is the highly acclaimed Bar La Grassa in Minneapolis.

He said being wealthy is hard to explain.

"I don't care about money," he said. "It seems like I would because I grew up so poor and all of a sudden we're doing well [but] I don't care about it. We've given a lot of our money to charities we believe in."

But he does care about winning. That's why he started the Tom Barnard Digital Radio Network.

He records the advertiser-supported show from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday afternoon.

Anyone can download it, and it can be seen on a YouTube channel.

Wife, Katherine, and the Barnard's two kids, Andy and Alex, are all on the digital show. So is Alex's husband, Dan.

Barnard said he's trapped them all and has them working for him.

"We're abnormally close, we're a very close family," his daughter Alex said.

The kid from the troubled family grew up to be the man who can't stand to be away from his family.

"I will always work," Barnard said. "I love doing the KQ morning show, I just love it, and now I have the afternoon show, and I love that, too, because I get to work with my family."

KQRS radio will soon begin airing the best of the Tom Barnard digital show on Sunday mornings.

He told me he also plans to expand the digital show.