Posted by chicagomedia.org on July 02, 2009 at 15:44:44:
Local broadcasting luminary Norman Pellegrini dies
John von Rhein | Tribune critic
Norman Pellegrini, the longtime program director at Chicago fine arts radio station WFMT-FM and one of the great figures in local broadcasting history, died early Thursday morning at St. Joseph's Hospital in Chicago. He was 79. The cause of death was not specified.
If WFMT is a unique classical radio station in the nation and the world, it is largely due to Pellegrini's vision, influence and uncompromising artistic principles. He created the special mix of classical and folk music, jazz and spoken word that made WFMT's programming an oasis of class and style on a bandwidth increasingly given to crass commercialism, which he despised.
Pellegrini joined the station at its founding by Bernard and Rita Jacobs in 1951. He became its program director in 1953, a post he held for 43 years until he was removed from the position in 1996. He served as the longtime "voice" of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's and Lyric Opera of Chicago's radio broadcast series, producing and hosting numerous other programs for many years.
A Chicago native, he attended the University of Chicago and received a degree from Columbia College.
A former member of the Illinois Arts Council, Pellegrini won special recognition from Billboard magazine and San Francisco State University for his work as WFMT program director. He received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from DePaul University in 1978. The citation read, in part: "By consistently offering the best, you have proved that a sizable and eager audience exists for the best."
A memorial service is being planned for July 18 (which would have been Pellegrini's 80th birthday) at Mayfair Lutheran Church, 4335 W. Lawrence Ave. More details will be announced.