Liberal voice for Eugene signs off air

0 Comments | Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), September, 2003

Byline: Bob Welch / The Register-Guard

If leaving his "Critical Mass" radio program is anything like leaving his National Public Radio reporting a decade ago, Alan Siporin knows what to expect.

"It's like breaking up with someone," says Siporin, wedged in an editing room at KLCC (89.7 FM). "You're OK with it - until you see her with someone else."

Today at noon, Siporin, 54, will host the last of his "Critical Mass" public affairs shows that helped solidify him as Eugene's best-known liberal media voice. Siporin is quitting because multifaceted facial pain makes it too difficult to do the weekly show.

"The pain dragged me into this decision," he says.

Being an outspoken liberal in Eugene is a little like being a black-and-white...