Longtime WFIU classical radio host George Walker dies at age 81

George Walker, who for 45 years was the voice of classical music and a programming director at WFIU Public Radio , died Wednesday.

Walker, 81, retired in 2022 after a diagnosis of frontotemporal (progressive) disease .

His foray into radio began in 1967 while he was a graduate student at Indiana University working on a master's degree in teaching English. He began volunteering at the radio station, first telling the news and then sharing classical music. He began working at the station full-time in 1977.

In addition to becoming WFIU's iconic classical music programmer, Walker interviewed artists — from Yo-Yo Ma to Maya Angelou and Bill T. Jones — and became a highly regarded reviewer of plays and operas. He was working at the radio station when the NPR network formed and continued to work there as it grew. He recalled that he had the longest weekday airtime of any NPR station for many years, according to a press release from WFIU.

“George was a model of consistency across what might have been a record tenure,” said WFIU/WTIU station operations director John Bailey in a press release. “We can’t find any evidence that another daily music host in the history of U.S. broadcasting served one station for longer in that role.”

In July, Walker was inducted into the Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations Hall of Fame , which honors public media officials with ties to Indiana and the industry.

WFIU will pay tribute to George Walker during its Morning Music program from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, Aug. 22.

WFIU is a NPR member station serving south-central Indiana with news, classical and jazz music broadcast from the Indiana University Bloomington campus.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Longtime WFIU classical radio host George Walker dies at age 81