Rusty Humphries first show Jan. 3 on WGST featuring... the Kimmer!

Humprhries, aware of the Kimmer's rabid fan base, said he doesn't want to be like Jay Leno, who he felt did not not properly honor his legendary predecessor Johnny Carson. He wants to give the Kimmer his props and hopefully transition some of Kimmer's fans to his camp.

He said he will air his Kimmer interview  at 3:35 p.m. on Monday.

The Kimmer, now retired, said he was a bit skeptical when he got the call from Humphries. "I'm a cynic," he said."Would this be Mike Wallace with a hidden camera?" But ultimately, he figured Humphries was a sincerely nice guy and agreed to do it. (The managers who got rid of the Kimmer in 2006 are long gone, too, and the new ones had no objection.)

"I don't know who'll be listening either," Peterson added. "Dave Ramsey has been so long, I don't think the 3 pm.audience is the one I had."

He said for the first year after forced retirement, he didn't miss radio much. His show had been gradually stripped of its key elements toward the end, he said, and it wasn't so much fun anymore. "It was a relief," he said. He played lots of golf and rode  his Harleys in Massachusetts and Florida.

But then he started to miss the mike. He's been a guest on fellow GST alum Denny Schaffer's night show on 920/WGKA-AM. He did a podcast earlier this year. "It's hard to get radio  out of your system," he said.

For now, Peterson has actually spent less time on his motorcycle and with his golf clubs. Why? He got a horse! The name: Jack the Good Boy. He rides Jack every day. "He's as big as a Clydesdale," he said. "He's a nut, has a lot of personality. He's a jumper and a show horse."

He now lives almost year around in Palm Beach County, Fla.

"I'm not complaining about my life," he said. "But if there were openings and a good offer, I'd take it."

Humphries, in the meantime, will have a producer and two other staff members to play off of. He plans to include some political content like he does on his syndicated talk show (heard late at night here), but wants to make it lighter to reflect the afternoon drive time. That's the approach the Kimmer took, actually.

Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.

By Rodney Ho, rho@ajc.com, AJCRadioTV blog