WDIY 88.1 FM has announced that it is naming its newsroom, "The Don Miles Community Newsroom," in honor of dedicated on-air news host and board member, Don Miles. Miles died in February after a battle with prostate cancer at the age of 75.
Lehigh Valley Community Broadcasters Association (LVCBA) board president Karen El-Chaar and WDIY Executive Director Margaret McConnell were present for the installation of a memorial plaque at the newsroom's entrance last week. The LVCBA is the organization which owns and operates WDIY.
Don Miles began volunteering with WDIY in 2006, serving as local host of NPR’s All Things Considered on Fridays. As a retired environmental lawyer as well as a board member for both the Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania Sierra Club, his passion for the news and the ways that individuals could use its lessons to improve the local community were apparent to WDIY staff from the very beginning of his tenure. WDIY can think of no better tribute to Miles' memory than to name our newsroom after him.
Don Miles would continue hosting All Things Considered for over a decade until stepping down after his cancer diagnosis. Yet, he would return to All Things Considered until November of last year when the station was having difficulty finding another host for the afternoon time-slot. Miles would also go on to serve as vice president of the LVCBA, before stepping down from this position as well last November due to his health.
Miles says his love of radio began while listening late at night to legendary monologist Jean Shepard on New York City station WOR. He then says he blossomed as a DJ, going on to be program director for Lehigh University's WLVR in 1969. Outside of radio, Don was an amateur photographer, hiker, and tireless advocate for environmental causes like preserving U.S. national parks. He appeared on a 2018 episode of WDIY's Take Charge of Your Life, discussing his role with the Sierra Club and their work with national parks.
WDIY has been named Outstanding News Operation among small market radio stations in Pennsylvania for the past two years at the Keystone Media Awards. Notably, the station has only one staff position in the news department, News and Public Affairs Director James Zipprodt. WDIY and Zipprodt rely on award-winning volunteer news hosts like Mike Flynn and Marcie Lightwood to create engaging local news for the Lehigh Valley.
_______________________
The Estate of Don Miles has generously offered a matching challenge for WDIY's 2024 Spring Membership Drive in Miles' memory. Thank you to the listeners who have contributed to the challenge on Monday, April 8 and Monday, April 15. Each listener donation was matched with an additional $88.10 from the Estate of Don Miles:
| Al and Barbara Wurth Alison DelRe Amy Cohen Anne Mironchik Barbara Bauer Barbara Jackson Barry Dubbs Brennan Pursell Catharine Roseberry Cathy Kimock Cathy Wirth Chet Graper Christopher Criswell Clarissa MacIntosh Cynthia Weber David Williams Elizabeth Conard Ellen Bearn Gary and Linda Marsh Grant Stevenson Jack Keefe - Boy Scout Troop 318 Jeffrey Flatt Jim Swain Jodi Duckett | Judith Lasker Katherine Fenstermaker Kathy Anthony Liesel Dreisbach-Williams Lynn and Michael Rothman Margo and Steve Hillman Maria Tjeltveit Michael Burke Nancy Kramer-Moyer Patricia Abraham Patricia Rhoads Paul and Marie North Roberta Kasmiroski Roland and Barbara Kushner Sally Jo Lawrence Sharon Ettinger Simon Molloy Tamie Swain Terry Hartzell Thomas Chadwick Thomas Harrington Todd Furler Trinette Washer Vern Clater Wendy Crouse |
