Rush Limbaugh’s widow, Kathryn Limbaugh, has opened up about the conservative radio host's final days. Rush died earlier this month of lung cancer, but in the days leading up to his death, he managed to find comfort in Elton John's "Your Song," which had fond memories attached to it for the couple.
"I played that for Rush in his final days," Kathryn said Monday during a guest slot on her husband's show, People reported. "And he was able to listen to that song and we remembered our wedding and Elton John.”
John played at the couple’s wedding.
"It has been a very difficult time," Kathryn said about the days since Rush passed. "Rush was an incredible creature of habit. ... He never stopped working, from the moment that he got home after the show he may give himself maybe 15 minutes or an hour of rest time, and he was back at it."
During the radio show Monday, Kathryn also recounted how she met Rush. She was arranging a celebrity golf day on behalf of a foundation of South African golfer Gary Player. She was unsure whether or not to invite Rush, but eventually decided to add him onto the list.
"Believe it or not, I put him down on maybe B or C [list], just based on what I thought I knew of him," she said.
"I thought, 'I've heard a lot about him, but I will give it a shot anyway,'" Kathryn added. "He walked in, he was extraordinarily humble and kind, and I thought to myself, this isn't quite the person that I thought was going to be arriving. And from that moment on I knew that everything that you read and hear is not necessarily accurate," she continued. "Rush and I became friends for many years before we actually got married. But we were very, very close from the early, early days of that meeting."
Over the years, Rush has been the subject of controversy for remarks made on his show. He would refer to extreme feminists as "feminazis" and mockingly use "theme songs" to introduce topics he was about to discuss, such as Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" for a monologue on anthropogenic global warming. Despite his radio personality, Kathryn said her husband was a different person off-air.
"That's something that was not really highly told over the years, or really publicized or written about, but it certainly should be part of his legacy: He's one of the most generous people and celebrities that you could ever find," she said.
Rush Limbaugh died at age 70 on Wednesday, a year after announcing his cancer diagnosis. Kathryn shared the news of his passing on his radio show.
"Losing a loved one is terribly difficult, even more so when that loved one is larger than life," she said, according to CNN. "Rush will forever be the greatest of all time."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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