Maine humorist and former public radio jazz host Robert Skoglund, known widely as "the humble Farmer," has died. Skoglund was 88, and according to a Facebook post from his family he died at his home Saturday morning.
Skoglund was born in 1936 in the midcoast town of St. George, the son of a Swedish immigrant, and would go on to study linguistics at the University of Rochester. He was teaching school in 1978 when he began hosting a show on Maine Public Radio, then known as MPBN, featuring jazz music from the 1920s, '30s and '40s, and blended with his own brand of humor.
Skoglund's popularity as a Maine humorist grew with the syndication of his newspaper column, but his radio career hit a snag in 2003 when, during his jazz program, he weighed in on the controversy surrounding the Iraq War, making reference to then President George W. Bush.
"Let's admit it, though. You and I know that there are people who do like war. Many of them are simple, flag-wavin' folks who'll stand right up in public to show their support for our wimply lookin', weasely faced war monger from way down South who didn't even get most of the popular vote," he said.
Skoglund was admonished by management at Maine Public Radio, who cited the network's standards for political neutrality. But further on-air political comments by Skoglund in late 2006 and 2007 led to more conflict, and ultimately to the cancellation of the "humble Farmer" program, prompting a public outcry from many of his supporters.
In recent years, Skoglund continued to seek audiences, producing a podcast and writing a column for the Portland Press Herald. According to the Facebook post by stepdaughter Tamar Philbrook, Skoglund died peacefully, in his sleep, at home in St. George. He was 88 years old.
