Influential Detroit media mentor Dick Kernen dies at 82
Kernen estimated to have helped shape the lives, careers of thousands
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Dick Kernen, alongside colleague Specs Howard. (WDIV)
Kernen, a Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee, helped shape broadcast through his work with CBS Sports Radio 1270 when it was known as WXYZ-AM, WRIF 101.1 and his work with the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.
Kernen is estimated to have helped shape the lives of thousands of broadcast workers across the state, including many at WDIV, Local 4.
His family confirmed Friday he passed away from natural causes.
In 2019, the Specs Howard School of Media Arts wrote about Kernen’s work at the school and said he “did everything he did for the benefit of the students.”
Dick Kernen, a giant of Michigan broadcasting who boosted the careers of countless familiar on-air voices and faces, died of natural causes Friday at home in Dearborn, his family confirmed. He was 82.
Kernen, who started with WXYZ-AM in the 50s and helped form WRIF-FM in the 70s, was vice president of industry relations at the Specs Howard School of Media Arts in Southfield, where he had worked since 1972.
A 2003 Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee, Kernen was a guiding hand both inside and outside Specs Howard to some of the best-known names on the local airwaves in recent decades, having worked closely with the likes of Arthur Penhallow, Glenda Lewis, Carmen Harlan, Charlie Langton, Amy Andrews, Joe Wade Formicola and more.
Radio veteran, longtime Detroit media mentor Dick Kernen passes away
and last updated 2020-12-19 13:33:53-05
DETROIT (WXYZ) â Radio veteran and longtime Detroit media mentor Dick Kernen has passed away. He was 82.
The Specs Howard School of Media Arts posted the announcement of Kernen s death on their Facebook page on Friday. Kernen was serving as the school s Vice President of Industry Relations.
Founder of the media arts school, Specs Howard, released this statement on Kernen s passing:
Dick Kernen was much more than a colleague. He became, over the years, a dear friend. The day I hired Dick Kernen, all those decades ago, I could not have possibly known what a difference he would make in my life, the lives of the staff and the lives of thousands of Specs Howard School students and graduates. His passion for the broadcasting world permeated his every encounter. He was loved well beyond the walls of the school. Broadcast industry leaders relied on Dick for his unique brand
Few working in media had the kind of quiet impact that Dick Kernen did during his lengthy career.
Especially in his role as placement director and chief ambassador of the Specs Howard School of Media Arts in Southfield, Kernen â who passed away Friday, Dec. 18, at age 82, from natural causes â was behind, without exaggeration, thousands of careers in the radio, television and communications industry. Much-loved and well-respected, Kernen was known as Uncle Dick around the school and valued for his advice, advocacy and insight â and for an endless array of stories about alumni and the Michigan radio community in general.
And at Stackerz restaurant on Lahser Road, where he d dine four or five days a week and was considered like family, Kernen is immortalized with a sandwich that bears his name the No. 15 with tuna fish, cheddar cheese, bacon and lettuce on onion roll.
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