Anthony W. McCarthy, who helped define and direct political discourse in Baltimore as a journalist, talk show host and spokesman to three Baltimore mayors, died today at Northwest Hospital after a lengthy bout with kidney disease. He was 57.

An ordained minister and longtime NAACP stalwart, he was a respected, often beloved, figure among a diverse array of political heavyweights and eager aspirants, who valued his sage advice, delivered with a wry, almost self-effacing smile.

Remarkably, he reached the pinnacle of the city’s clubby political world without the advantage of being a native Baltimorean. And twice he walked away from that center of gravity with equal equanimity, returning to his talk show, writing and spiritual duties.

Anthony was raised in the Shenandoah Valley and trained at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., before matriculating to Howard University and a stint as a speechwriter at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration.

He made a splash quickly in local politics, first as an aide to U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings in the late 1990s and then as editor-in-chief of the Afro in 2001-03.

Over the next two decades, he slipped back and forth between politics and journalism, becoming the go-to link between the city’s Black political elite and local media.

He was communications director for Mayor Sheila Dixon in 2007, then returned to City Hall in 2016 and 2017 as the chief spokesman for Mayors Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Catherine Pugh.

In between those stints, he served as the smooth-voiced host of “The Weekly News Roundup With Anthony McCarthy” on WYPR 88.1 FM and “The Anthony McCarthy Show” on WEAA 88.9 FM.

In 2015, he was recognized as Best Talk Show Host by Baltimore Magazine.

Despite health struggles, he continued post-City Hall as a political consultant, helping engineer Kweisi Mfume’s return to the U.S. House of Representatives in a 2000 special election called to replace Cummings, who had died in office.

He also served as a spokesman for the mayoral campaign of Thiru Vignarajah, an aide to Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming, and handled public relations duties for the Baltimore City NAACP and numerous nonprofits.

Accolades and Affection

As his health deteriorated and he was placed on dialysis, his friends and political benefactors hosted a “Anthony McCarthy Lovefest” to raise money to pay for assisted living as he awaited a kidney transplant that never happened.

The lineup of speakers and the words they said were impressive.

Nicolee Ambrose, a Fox New Radio commentator, called McCarthy “a walking angel.”

Willie Flowers, president of the NAACP Maryland state conference, compared his writings to author James Baldwin.

And Ron Flanner, former president of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, said that McCarthy “has the intellect of a Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois,” the “toughness of a Thurgood Marshall” and the “eloquence of a Martin Luther King Jr.”

This afternoon and evening similar accolades were coming in from local notables.

Carl Stokes, a former city councilman, told The Baltimore Sun, “Anthony was as close as a brother to me. His straightforward commentary was appreciated by both sides of the aisle and the middle.”

His radio co-host and longtime friend, Marc Steiner, said on Facebook, “He came to Baltimore from southern Virginia – Black, Gay, Brilliant – and took our town by storm, no easy task in Baltimore.

“He performed our wedding and was one of the kindest souls I have ever known,” Steiner continued. “He knew the meaning of friendship, love and compassion.”

Rep. Mfume spoke of McCarthy’s faith this way:

“He never allowed the coarse nature of others to deprive him of his faith in God or his belief in the inherent nature of good in all people. Optimism and determination coexisted in his being,” the congressman said in a statement on McCarthy’s passing. “I will miss his trust and wise counsel.”

The same loss will be felt by the reporters who trusted and respected him.