Wilmington’s WHQR Public Radio has announced the resignation of Jemila Ericson, Classical and Midday Afternoon host. Ericson’s last official day on air will be Dec. 26. Ericson has worked as a WHQR radio host for more than 20 years.
In a letter of resignation delivered to station management Nov. 25, Ericson wrote, “I have decided to leave my job at WHQR. It’s been a long and wonderful ride, but I feel now that my time here is done. … As the last ‘surviving’ member of the Greenfield Street gang still on staff, I have enjoyed serving as an anchor to that colorful past. I have also been fully on board with helping move the Front Street station forward. … I look forward to passing this job on to someone who will enjoy it as I have. I’ve been passionate about public radio, as you know. But I remember in the early days of the station, most of us realized that if we were in radio, we had to be in all the way, and that our lives would allow very little time for anything else. … My deepest wish and strongest intention is to leave here with only blessings in my wake. I have loved everyone I’ve worked with.”
Ericson plans to return to her acting and storytelling roots.
WHQR Station Manager Cleve Callison stated in a Dec. 1 press release, “It was with great sadness that I learned of Jemila’s resignation. … Jemila has seen, and weathered, many changes at the station. She has been an icon for so many in the region from the earlier days to the present. It’s impossible to conceive of ‘replacing’ Jemila because her many talents and warm appeal are so caught up in who she is, and that can’t be duplicated. Her departure will be a loss, and we will have to use every ounce of creativity we can muster to figure out what happens next.”
