Frank Sontag
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Frank Sontag, Jr. (born 1955-07-06 in Cleveland, Ohio) is the host of the Impact program, a talk radio show which discusses a wide variety of topics.[1] He is also a regular cast member on the Mark & Brian radio program, a popular syndicated morning radio show. He has recently had small acting parts in a few motion pictures.
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[edit] Biography
Sontag showed a keen interest in horses and music in his early toddler years. He began taking accordion lessons by age 8 with possible aspirations of music as a career. Sontag placed first in a number of competitions, with the highlight being a third place finish in a contest that featured more than 600 children from all over the entire state of Ohio. Sontag would experience a life defining moment in February 1964 when The Beatles made their American debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. No more accordion. The Sontag family moved to Hollywood in the summer of 1965 where his father landed a job in the electrical department of Universal Studios. Four years later, Sontag attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, where he graduated at the age of sixteen in 1972. Sontag attended college for the next 8 years where he majored in mathematics, psychology, and veterinary medicine. During that time, he also tried his hand at a number of different jobs which included a store manager for Ralph's Grocery Markets, a fire insurance inspector, and a warehouse manager for a private airplane parts company. He even worked alongside his father for a short time, learning the ropes as a lighting technician in the movie industry. None of this was able to truly hold his interest.
Sontag would have another life-changing moment on 1984-06-17 when he was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle crash. He was rear ended by another motorist driving in excess of 100 mph on impact. The injuries he sustained would later take years to heal. Soon after the accident, Sontag sold all of his belongings and moved to North Lake Tahoe where he spent a long cold winter, locked in a cabin with only the basic necessities. It was this experience Sontag now refers to as the beginning of his "wake-up call" where he began to reassess everything he held true about life which included his own perceptions about himself. Sontag began to discover several spiritual leaders and teachers through their writings and oratory works. He started practicing meditation and pursuing the many realms of consciousness and self-actualization.
Sontag returned to Southern California in September 1985 where he was hired as a radio broadcaster at 95.5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles. There he has been a disc-jockey, news director, sportscaster, and board operator for the highly successful Mark & Brian radio program. Sontag has also been the host of a talk radio show, the Impact program, at KLOS since November 1987 and has been so for the last 20 years after taking over for Michael Benner.[citation needed] In 1987, he founded The Project for Social Change, an organization dedicated to helping serve the needs of the community. Sontag continues to share his life message through his radio program and organization. He is married to the former Erin Cline and has one daughter, Lindsay.
[edit] Impact
The Impact program is a talk radio show on 95.5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles that's dedicated to raising consciousness. Sontag has been the host of Impact for the last 20 years since November 1987. The program airs every Monday morning (starting Sunday night) from 12:00AM to 5:00AM PDT. It is primarily a listener call-in show where any topic can be discussed, but is generally focused on subjects dealing with politics and philosophy. As the host of the program, Sontag will usually bring up certain subjects and provide commentary about them, but encourages callers to talk about anything on their mind regardless of what he, a guest, or previous callers have been recently discussing. Sontag frequently has both in-studio and phone-in guests on the program that are frequently those who offer alternative political or spiritual views to the mainstream. Sontag may provide his own personal views that provide recurring topics among callers.
[edit] The Project for Social Change
In 1987, Sontag founded The Project For Social Change (also known as The Project), an organization dedicated to helping serve the needs of the community. Over the years, some of Frank’s work through The Project has been, giving lectures on a wide variety of life issues, hosting fundraising dinners for other non-profit organizations, facilitating personal growth workshops, and editing and publishing a bi-monthly newsletter.
[edit] Personal views
Sontag espouses progressive liberal values, although he usually questions labels. He was once a Reagan conservative but says his life was changed when he was knocked off his motorcycle while riding on a Los Angeles freeway in 1984. Some current views held by Sontag:
- Criticism of television. Sontag rarely watches television and expresses concerns over the frequent bombardment of advertisements from the medium.[2] However, he does admit to a love-hate relationship with The Sopranos and sneaks a peak at television at the gym where he works out.
- Questioning of Conventional Medicine - which Sontag derides by referring to it as allopathic medicine. He disputes the notion that AIDS exists. He disputes any relationship between the presence of HIV and a diagnosis of AIDS (see AIDS denialism). Sontag contends any such linkage is a myth invented by conspiracy of medical entities and individuals. What is identified as AIDS, according to Sontag, is a combination of symptoms brought on by the destruction of the human immune system by a polluted environment and food chain and by reckless use of prescription pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs.
- He opposes the death penalty saying that humanity or any government do not have the right to play God with other people.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- franksontag.com: Frank Sontag's personal website
- Frank Sontag at the Internet Movie Database
- Frank Sontag on KLOS
- Mark & Brian: Listen Live on KLOS
- Impact Program Webcast