Talk show host, politician Barbara Carlson dies at 80

Barbara Carlson, a former radio talk show host with a bold, unfiltered personality, has died at the age of 80 after battling lung cancer.

Carlson’s daughter, Anne Carlson, said her mother died Monday surrounded by family and friends. Anne Carlson told the Star Tribune that before her mother died, she said: “I wasn’t a great mother. But, damn, I was a fun mother.’’

Barbara Carlson’s brother, George Duffy, confirmed her death Tuesday to The Associated Press.

Barbara, known as “Babs,’’ divorced Arne Carlson in 1977, before he became Minnesota’s governor.

She gave up her career in real estate and became a politician herself, serving on the Minneapolis City Council in the 1980s.

In 1990, her life became even more public as she began her career as a bombastic talk show host on KSTP radio. Her show was known for being outrageous, sometimes airing from her hot tub.