A number of KROQ-FM staffers have known about this for a few months, ever since Gene “Bean” Baxter (pictured) first made the announcement at an internal meeting. But it was on this morning’s Kevin & Bean show that he shared with the rest of the world his stunning personal news. On November 13, Bean will be at Cedars-Sinai donating one of his kidneys to the station’s director of engineering Scott Mason. This is actually Mason’s second such transplant.

Be sure to click, bookmark and listen to the audio link at some point. It’s our coast’s latest equivalent to the many selfless acts being performed on the east coast in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. From Baxter’s KROQ show blog post:

Scott has had medical issues for much of his adult life, including his kidneys failing, and that led him to have a transplant from a cadaver back in 1999. Well, now that one has failed too and Scott is back on dialysis for many hours a week. The kidney processes waste out of the blood and without one your body is being poisoned all the time. The dialysis helps but is a temporary solution. You only get off the machine if you get a new kidney or you die.

You may know I live in Seattle and do the Kevin & Bean show from my house. Scott visits once a year to do maintenance and upgrades on my studio equipment and it was during his most recent visit last spring that I noticed how unwell he looked…

Expect many more comments of praise to come in for “Bean” like this one posted at allaccess.com by Tom Kent:

I’ve known Bean for close to 30 years and I’ve always known in my heart of hearts that this is a good and decent man. This totally selfless act of kindness is just another example. Kudos to my friend Gene “Bean” Baxter! I’m so sorry I gave you that air name when you worked for me at WAVA back in the day!! I will never live it down!!! Much love and kindness to you. You are my hero!