Conservative talk radio host Jay Severin died this week at age 69.
WGBH News' Emily Rooney used to appear on his show on WTKK for a media segment, where Jim Braude and Margery Eagan also worked before coming to WGBH.
Rooney told Boston Public Radio Friday Severin's penchant for controversy didn't detract from his talent as a broadcaster.
"I thought he was transformative," she said. "He had such a manner, you couldn't not listen to him. ... It wasn't like a Rush Limbaugh, which was the same thing over and over again. He was persuasive."
In 2011, Severin was suspended after he boasted that he'd slept with female empoyees and was subsequently fired. He had been previously suspended in 2009 after making derogatory comments about Mexican immigrants.
Rooney moderates Beat The Press on WGBH.
