Full Disclosure: I was an employee of Clear Channel Communications for about four years, at both WWKY AM 790 and WHAS AM 840. For three years I hosted "The Joe Arnold Show" weekday mornings 12am - 5am on WHAS Radio, immediately following Joe Elliott's show.

Joe was a hard act to follow. He would hold court for three hours before I started my five hour marathon each night. The frustrating part of following Joe Elliott was when he would choose the same topic I had planned. Would there be any conversation left for me? It was always interesting to compare notes and see how each of us had arrived at our conclusions. And, as a rule, Joe's comments always influenced my opinion or at least challenged me to see if I had as reasoned an opinion as his.

Some people want their radio talk show hosts to be "neutral." That doesn't work too often, as conversations have to be advanced with perspective and knowledge. Joe Elliott's gift is that while he certainly expresses his opinions, he remains "objective" in how he arrives at those opinions. He wants to know the facts of any situation before applying the prism of his experience and values. Like a math professor at the blackboard, Joe understands it's just as important to understand the process of the equation as it is to know the result.

I learned a lot by working with Joe and he set the bar very high for me every night. There are some nights that, despite your planning, the phones don't ring as much as you would like. You can hardly ever tell that with Joe.

Whatever is blamed for the show's cancelation, one fact is clear through any prism, that Louisville needs the kind of conversations facilitated by the Joe Elliott Show and needs a Joe Elliott to offer the reasoned arguments that make us think and motivate us to take action.