August 5, 2019

‘Ann Delisi’s Essential Conversations’: An interview with NPR’s Don Gonyea, Sept. 29

Don Gonyea, former WDET anchor, reporter and current NPR National Political correspondent, will join WDET’s Ann Delisi for an Essential Conversation on Sept. 29 from 6-8 p.m. at the Detroit Historical Museum.

Delisi and Gonyea — WDET colleagues in the ’80s — will look back on WDET’s history, along with Gonyea’s experience as a Detroit reporter. During that time, he covered labor unions, the auto industry and the trials of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, and was on site at Cobo Arena when ice skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked.

This event is a benefit for WDET, part of the Detroit public radio station’s 70th anniversary celebration, and includes appetizers, beer and wine. For tickets and information, go to WDET.org/events.

Ann Delisi’s Essential Conversations is supported by ELS Studio 3D. WDET is a community service of Wayne State University.

About Ann Delisi

Delisi

In addition to live events, Ann Delisi’s Essential Conversations is an ongoing interview series that includes on-air features as well as on-demand podcasts. Previous guests have included Prince’s audio engineer, Susan Rogers; Mo Rocca; Blue Note Records president/producer/musician, Don Was; legendary Motown songwriter/producer/artist Barrett Strong; and Obama White House photographer Pete Souza.

Essential Conversations allows me to share the intimacy of my one-on-one conversations with listeners, exploring the artist’s life, their work and what drives their creative spirit,” Delisi said.

Delisi is also the host of Essential Music, heard weekends on WDET and has been a fixture on the Detroit radio dial for decades. She just celebrated her 10th anniversary as host of Essential Music.

About Don Gonyea

Gonyea

Gonyea is NPR's national political correspondent, a position he has held since 2010. His reports can be heard on all NPR News programs and at NPR.org. Gonyea has been covering politics full-time for NPR since the 2000 presidential campaign. That's the year he chronicled a controversial election and the ensuing legal recount battle in Florida that awarded the White House to George W. Bush. Gonyea was named NPR White House correspondent that year and subsequently covered the entirety of the Bush presidency, from 2001-2008. He was at the White House on the morning of Sept. 11, providing live reports following the evacuation of the building.

In 1986, Gonyea got his start at NPR reporting from Michigan on labor unions and the automobile industry. His first public radio job was at station WDET in Detroit. He spent countless hours on picket lines and in union halls covering strikes at the major U.S. auto companies, along with other labor disputes. Gonyea also reported on the development of alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles, Dr. Jack Kevorkian's assisted-suicide crusade, and the 1999 closing of Detroit's classic Tiger Stadium.

Gonyea has won numerous national and state awards for his reporting. He was part of the team that earned NPR a 2000 George Foster Peabody Award for the All Things Considered series "Lost & Found Sound."

A native of Monroe, Michigan, Gonyea is an honors graduate of Michigan State University.

About WDET 101.9 FM

From our Midtown Detroit location on the campus of Wayne State University, WDET 101.9 FM, Detroit’s NPR Public Radio Station, delivers a unique mix of news, conversation, special programs and music programming. Our powerful 48,000-watt broadcast signal reaches a 70-mile radius across all of southeast Michigan, northwest Ohio and southwest Ontario. It expands nationally through our livestream, website, mobile app and podcasts. WDET 101.9 FM is a community service of Wayne State University.

Contact

Toby Tabaczynski
Phone: 313-577-4255
Email: tobyt@wdet.org

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