Fred Fiske
Senior Commentator, Metro Connection
Fred Fiske is Senior Commentator at WAMU 88.5 and a 50-year veteran of Washington, D.C., area radio. He can be heard every week on WAMU 88.5's news magazine, Metro Connection, which airs on Fridays at 1 p.m.
A New York City native, Fiske got his start in radio as a child actor. While in high school, he performed in radio plays for The Magic of Speech on NBC, and in such dramas as "The Farmer Takes A Wife" with William Holden and "Green Goddesses" with Ronald Coleman. During the summer season, he worked the "Borscht Belt" in the Catskills with up-and-coming actors Danny Kaye and Betty Garrett.
After graduating from Brooklyn College with a bachelor's degree in speech and drama, Fiske put his radio career on hold and enlisted in the Air Force. During World War II, he served as an aerial gunner and a radio operator in the 8th Air Force. Fiske flew 30 missions over France and Germany as part of a B-24 crew, and brought home a Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals. His squadron leader was Colonel Jimmy Stewart.
After the war, Fiske returned to New York, where he taught high school and earned a master's degree in speech and education at Columbia University. After teaching for a year, he resumed his radio career as a free-lance actor on soap operas, plays, and nighttime shows.
In 1947, Fiske left New York to get a fresh start as an actor. He worked as a radio announcer in Lexington, Ky., for six months, then moved to Washington, D.C. He landed a job with WOL radio, then part of the Mutual Broadcasting System. The station later became WWDC. Fiske stayed at the station for 30 years and never went back to professional acting.
Fiske was a presidential announcer and veteran affairs commentator for Mutual Broadcasting. He was an announcer for the original Meet the Press, and later the Reporters Roundup. He provided live coverage of the presidential inaugurations of Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, as well as political conventions and other events.
During the 1950s, Fiske hosted a midday radio music program that included interviews with recording artists, and he became Washington's highest rated radio music host. In the 1960's, he hosted a morning show on WWDC and wrote a weekly music column for Washington's Daily News.
In 1970, Fiske became host of Empathy, a call-in talk show on WWDC, which later became The Fred Fiske Show. For seven years, it was the only talk radio program in Washington. When WWDC changed formats in 1977, Fiske brought his program to WAMU 88.5, where he kept lively and interesting conversation going for the next ten years. In 1987, he retired from the rigors of hosting five nights a week and moved the show to Saturday mornings, where it became Fred Fiske Saturday. Since 1995, Fiske has served as WAMU 88.5's Senior Commentator, and he can still be heard every week on Metro Connection.
Fiske lives in Bethesda, Md., with his wife, Sandy. The Fiskes enjoy traveling together and visiting family and friends.
