Longtime D.C. residents are mourning the death of radio host Frank Harden, who was on the airwaves for decades. He was remembered on Monday by colleagues and competitors. News4’s Mark Segraves reports.
Radio host Frank Harden has died after decades on the air in D.C.
Harden, one half of the WMAL show "Harden and Weaver," died Friday in Chevy Chase, the radio station announced. He was 95.
"Harden and Weaver" was created in 1960 and covered news, weather, traffic and more. The show featured an array of imaginary characters, played a morning march and once played a morning hymn.
Harden is remembered as a familiar voice to many in the D.C. area.
"People tell me all the time how they grew up listening to 'Harden and Weaver,' getting their school announcements and lost pet calls, and listening to the morning march. They really were a big part of folks’ daily lives," Harden's son, Bob, told WMAL.
"For Washingtonians of a certain age, Harden was the last link to the capital of row houses with green-and-white awnings," a Washington Post reporter wrote after Harden signed off from his show.
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"With little quips mixed in among the announcements of school closings on snowy days, Harden evoked the Washington of an era when high school sports meant as much as the Redskins. In Northwest Washington, some real estate agents still refer to the brick colonial Miller houses of the 1930s and '40s as 'WMAL-type houses,'" Post reporter Marc Fisher continued.
Harden retired in 1997, after 50 years at WMAL.
He is survived by his wife and their extended families.
