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By Rick Kaempfer
FRED WINSTON: HALL OF FAMER
red Winston is part of the 2026 class of Radio Hall of Fame inductees, although it didn’ t happen without a bit of drama.“ I found out I was nominated via phone call from one of the board members, Lon Helton, who is a former Chicago radio guy, who ' s now in Nashville. We worked together briefly at WMAQ. He called me on April 20th and said,‘ You gotta commend your friends. Nobody would give up your phone number.’ He sent me a copy of the nomination letter dated April 6. It said,‘ We need a complete bio, pictures, and audio representation by the end of the day of the 20th.’ I thought, my God, that ' s two hours from now. So, fortunately, I have a dear friend in South Bend who has a team of production people, Ted Smucker. He is a champion of our brand of radio, along with Bill Shannon and Tim Larson, production people and writers. I called him, and he and his guys put together the complete package and got it all to the Hall of Fame by the end of the day.”
Somehow, it was the first time he had been nominated for the honor. Luckily, the powers that be recognized the oversight and corrected the situation. There wouldn’ t be a second year as a nominee.“ I found out on the 18th of May that I had been inducted, or will be inducted at the ceremony in October, and I was speechless. I really was, because throughout my career, I was kind of rebellious, to say the least, not a political type of fellow, and didn ' t blow smoke up a lot of people ' s asses. If they were assholes, I would make sure they knew it. So I really was quite surprised that I was voted in strictly on the merits of talent and what I contributed to the industry. To be voted in by my peers is such an honor beyond words. I ' m just thrilled.”
Fred is most remembered for his incredible radio career in Chicago, but that’ s not where his radio journey began.“ I am originally from upstate New York, Syracuse, so I grew up in the shadow of WABC, WMCA, listening to WLS, CKLW, and all the big radio stations. Dick Biondi was the guy who lit the flame of desire for me, being on the radio back in the early 60s. He was so revolutionary and exciting.”
Fred worked his way up the ladder through Buffalo, Omaha, Dallas, and Denver, and at first, with that authoritative voice of his, he was a newsman.“ Interesting story about KBTR-Denver. I also did a Saturday morning DJ show using a nom de plume. I was Bill Fortune. So on Saturday morning, I hosted the Bill Fortune show, and then Monday through Friday, I was Frederick Winston, KBTR News. One day, I got a call from the great future Drake programmer Ted Atkins. The call was for Bill Fortune. He said,‘ How would you like to come over here and do nights on KIMN in Colorado?’ They were a red-hot radio station at the time. I informed him that Bill Fortune was really Fred Winston. It floored him. He said,‘ Wow, you sound like two different people.’ That ' s when I realized I may have a personality disorder.”
That“ personality disorder” later moved on to Dayton, then Cleveland, and Pittsburgh.“ My program director in Pittsburgh was Mike McCormick. He went to WLS-Chicago and then eventually brought me along. I replaced Scotty Brink, of all people. Scotty was a great guy. Even though he was on his way out, he still showed me the ropes of the radio station. Really a class act.”
The year was 1971, and the rest of Fred’ s career was spent in Chicago. Fred became an institution. He is still most fondly remembered for his glory days at WLS. Ironically, that’ s also where paths crossed with a fellow 2026 Radio Hall of Fame inductee.“ Charlie Van Dyke and
Fred Winston
I worked together at WLS,” Fred explains.“ We became good buddies. I always joke and say Charlie was the morning man for 15 minutes. He was a West Coast guy, and Chicago’ s weather just didn’ t agree with him. He begged off and returned to the West Coast, and I was given the morning show. The rest, as they say, is history.”
That history includes not only an unforgettable stint at WLS, but also virtually every other station on the dial in Chicago, including WMAQ, WFYR, WPNT, WCFL, WJMK, WLUP, WXXY, and WMVP. He was on a few of those stations more than once.“ You know that list of stations you mentioned,” Fred says,“ you should point out that most of them changed formats. It wasn ' t that I couldn ' t hold a job. It was that the formats changed, or their ownership changed. Unlike my pal Dick Biondi, I only got canned from one, which is an accomplishment I’ m proud of because of my naughty reputation.”
Fred and his naughty reputation join fellow naughty reputations and colleagues at WLS, Larry Lujack and John Records Landecker, in the Radio Hall of Fame.“ I mean, I ' m in good company. We all got along well. We were like a brotherhood. We were a family, and that makes it extra special.”
Fred will be officially inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame on October 8, 2026, at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago. july 2026 illinoisentertainer. com 19