January 16, 2018) Joe Frank, a decades-long contributor to KCRW (230 shows), died January 15, at the age of 79. The LA Times called Joe "the most innovative radio dramatist in Los Angeles." His radio plays, Work in Progress, In the Dark, Somewhere Out There, and The Other Side, all aired on KCRW. Joe became a storytelling legend of public radio. Jennifer Ferro, KCRW general manager, described Joe as an audio artist who called Santa Monica’s KCRW his home. “There was and is no one like him – a storyteller who used audio to create a world that you fell into and often had no idea where you were when you were in it. I'm grateful I had the chance to work for him and was able to see how a genius works.”
“The great radio artist of our time has passed away,” wrote Harry Shearer. “You will never hear anybody smarter, darker, funnier than Joe Frank.”
Joe Langermann was born in 1939 in Strasbourg, France, to a Viennese mother and Polish father who were in flight from the Nazis. He was raised in New York, where he spent much of his childhood recovering from leg operations to correct clubfeet. He attended the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop and was later by a private school in Manhattan.
His radio career started in 1977, hosting a comedy show on Pacifica’s WBAI-New York. Joe started with NPR in 1978 as the weekend host of All Things Considered. During this period, Joe did a number of shows for NPR Playhouse before joining KCRW, in 1986. His show Joe Frank: A Work in Progress was broadcast on the NPR network. He is the author of The Queen of Puerto Rico and Other Stories, short stories based on his radio work. A Guggenheim Fellow, Joe was also the recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award, two major Armstrong Awards, two Gold Awards from the International Radio Festival in New York, and two Corporation for Public Broadcasting Radio Program Awards.
His wife, Michal Story, posted Joe’s passing on Facebook. He had been battling cancer for the last several years. A GoFundMe page to help Joe with his medical expenses raised $124,000. Services are pending.
