TV, radio talk show host Glenn Beck

to headline at Canton Chamber Annual Dinner

Talk show personality Glenn Beck, host of CNN’s “Glen Beck, Headline News,” and the nationally syndicated “Glenn Beck Program” on radio, will be keynote speaker for Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Dinner Feb. 22 at Canton Memorial Civic Center.

The event will also feature the inauguration of the new Chamber board of directors chairman and the introduction of newly elected board members. A cocktail reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. 

Beck, called a “modern-day story teller” known for his humorous, self-deprecating style, offers an unconventional look at the news of the day – everything from world events and politics to pop culture and the “water cooler issues” that are on everyone’s mind.  Recent topics discussed on the show, which premiered last year, have ranged from the execution of Saddam Hussein to illegal immigration, to interviews with political activist Al Sharpton and former Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Beck’s current radio show -- which also offers his unique perspective -- was launched in 2000 in Tampa, Fla, where he took over a WFLA-AM program ranked 18^th in the market and brought it to number one within the first year. Now based in Philadelphia, the show is carried by 160 radio stations across the country.

Beck began in radio as a Top 40 disc jockey in Corpus Christi, Texas, at age 18, the youngest morning host in the nation.  He later worked on morning shows in Baltimore, Houston, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and New Haven, Conn., before a break in his career due to a bout with drugs and alcohol.  After a brief stint as a theology major at Yale, a divorce and relegation to one of the smallest radio markets in the nation, he found a program of recovery through the Mormon Church. He is married with two daughters.