Dick and Lauren Johnson '76, Senior & WGRE Cited in Column by Joe Goddard '60

December 24, 2010

Drew Willis headshot December 24, 2010, Greencastle, Ind. — "To WMAQ-TV (Ch. 5) co-anchor/reporter Dick Johnson of Burr Ridge: Our photos are hanging on a wall at DePauw University's student radio station WGRE in Greencastle, Ind. where we had talk shows about 15 years apart," Joe Goddard writes in the Hinsdale Doings. "We know this because of DePauw basketball forward Drew Wills, who had his own radio show last year -- at 2 a.m." Goddard is a 1960 graduate of DePauw, while Johnson received his degree from the University in 1976. (at left: Drew Wills '11; below right: Dick Johnson '76)

"We didn't think anyone would be listening at that hour, but we got music requests every night," Wills tells the newspaper.

The article notes that Wills "helped lead coach Ed Lynch's Hinsdale Central team to a 19-9 record in 2007 with a team-high 404 points ... Wills, who was named to DePauw's all-conference tournament team last year, is DePauw's second-leading scorer this year with more than 10 points a game."

Dick Johnson headshot Goddard points out, "The amiable Johnson met his wife, Lauren Meurisse ['76], at WGRE where she also had an early morning show. 'She had to read the hog reports the same time the much-bigger town station chose to read the names and illnesses of people in the county,' Dick Johnson wrote in the DePauw alumni magazine. 'Few DePauw students could get through the farm reports smoothly since most were suburban kids whose only pig experiences or knowledge came at a petting zoo.'"

As an Emmy and DuPont-Columbia award winning broadcast journalist, Dick Johnson is a 28-year veteran of Chicago TV news. He joined NBC5 in the Fall of 2002 and is currently Sunday evening news anchor, general assignment reporter and backup weeknight anchor. He previously worked at Chicago's WLS-TV, KDFW-TV in Dallas and Indianapolis' WTHR-TV.

Joe Goddard headshot Joe Goddard (pictured at left) was a baseball beat writer for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1973 to 2000, covering both the Cubs and White Sox. He left the Sun-Times in 2006 after 42 years of service. Goddard is a two-time runner-up nominee for the Baseball Hall of Fame and was runner-up for the 2003 J.G. Taylor Spink Award, which is presented annually by the Baseball Writers Association of America to a sportswriter "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing."