Don Geronimo (a.k.a. Michael Sorce), has confirmed on-air that he will be leaving “The Don & Mike Show” at the end of May. The move has been publicly discussed for what seems like forever, especially with Don’s consistent rants against CBS Radio and WJFK management (the show debuted on WJFK in 1991, though a previous incarnation ran on WAVA for six years before then). In the end, the decision to move on boiled down to spending more time with his girlfriend, his son Bart who is about to graduate from Clemson (and who once cried on air that he couldn’t participate in a marshmallow and buttock-related contest), and his three grandchildren.

Don & Mike was the first D.C.-area radio show that I discovered when I moved here in 1999. It’s always had a spot in my heart for that reason, in spite of the waxing and waning of my maturity. The defining moment for the show for me came in the fall of 2005, when Don returned to the air for the first time after his wife Freda’s death. I’ll always remember sitting in my office and listening to the webcast, trying to hide tears from my officemate as Don candidly relayed what having a true soulmate and life partner was all about.

Mike O’Meara, Don’s longtime partner, will step up to host to “The Mike O’Meara Show”, flanked by longtime D&M personalities Robb Spewak, Buzz Burbank, and Joe Ardinger.