WGN legend Merri Dee dies at 85

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Robservations: WGN legend Merri Dee dies at 85; WBBM Newsradio promotes editor Zac Weber; Linda Lutton takes leave from WBEZ | Robert Feder

www.robertfeder.com

Former WGN staff announcer dead at 85 she has been on WGN, WCIU and WSNS over the years she was on Chicago Television.

Merri Dee is being remembered as an inspirational and groundbreaking broadcaster whose name was synonymous with “Chicago’s Very Own” WGN-Channel 9 for generations. The retired staff announcer and director of community relations died in her sleep at home Wednesday, according to family. She was 85. Before joining WGN, where she worked from 1972 to 2008, Dee hosted talk shows for south suburban WBEE Radio and independent TV stations WCIU-Channel 26 and WSNS-Channel 44. “Merri Dee was a homegrown broadcasting legend whose time as an anchor and radio and talk show host made her a beloved local celebrity,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. She added that Dee “truly made a positive and indelible mark on our city and inspired countless others to follow in her footsteps.” In 1996 Dee was inducted in the Silver Circle of the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and in 2011 she was inducted in the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame. Her memoir, Life Lessons On Faith, Forgiveness & Grace, was published in 2013.

 

[crainbebo]

May she RIP. I think she's the announcer who did a lot of the Community Calendar and movie intros on channel 9 - I've got several of them on tape. Merri and the now-late Doug Paul WERE the voices of WGN 9, Chicago's Very Own, in its heyday.