You can’t always believe what you read, but in this case, it’s true: Mike Douglas, who passed away Friday on his 81st birthday, really was a very nice man.

I had the chance to interview Mike several times over the years, most recently in 2004 for my biography of Bobby Darin, who was cohosting “The Mike Douglas Show” in Philadelphia when he learned the shocking truth about his family (that the woman he thought was his mother was, in fact, his grandmother – and that his “sister” was really his mother).

And back in 1996, I had the honor of being asked to contribute liner notes for “A Rare Treasure of Memorable Music,” a CD compilation of some of Mike’s classic songs.

He was a class act all the way.

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Radio: XM’s “Sonic 60s” show (Ch. 6) will devote five hours this Friday (4-9 p.m.) to re-airing programming from 1960s-era WABC Radio.

Terry Young will play recordings of old WABC DJs, station jingles and more – and will take phone calls from listeners who want to share their memories of the station.

(Ex-WABC jock Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow is now on XM competitor Sirius.) And congrats to Brad Blanks, whose daily shenanigans brighten WPLJ’s “Scott & Todd” morning show. He just celebrated six years at the station (95.5 FM)-quite a feat for a guy who walked in off the street into the ‘PLJ offices, looking for a radio job.

Last, but not least:

* The third-season finale of SOAPnet’s reality series, “I Wanna Be a Soap Star,” snared 406,000 viewers last Thursday – a series high.

* “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” is looking for engaged couples to compete on the show. Millionairetv.com has details.

* Happy birthday to Lisa Feldsher (Mind Over Media PR).

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* News notes: Tonight the entire, unedited Mike Wallace interview with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (which ran in shortened form last night on “60 Minutes”) will be aired twice, at 8 and 11 p.m. The Iranian president asked for it.

* Boss-from-hell Gordon Ramsay makes his final choice tonight in a two-hour season finale of “Hell’s Kitchen.” Heather and Virginia-two chefs who do not like each other at all-are the last cooks standing. The winner gets a Vegas restaurant.