WSU alum, media legend, Casey Kasem '57 died 6/15 at 82...
Arab American News, 6/19
"Casey Kasem, an Arab American who reached the stars"
by Samer Hijazi
Matthew Seeger, dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, commented about the death of Casey Kasem, a 1957 graduate of Wayne State who kept ties with the university during his successful career in radio and television. "It's an amazing loss to the university, the Detroit community, the Arab American community and the radio-TV-film profession," said Seeger. "He was an amazingly successful self-made man. He was a humble and an almost shy person who, behind the microphone, had an amazing personality and ability to connect with an audience. He was a wonderful figure for us in many ways and epitomizes what Wayne State is in terms of creating yourself. We deeply mourn his passing."
New York Times, Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, 6/15; WDET-FM, 6/16
Casey Kasem, wholesome voice of pop radio, dies at 82
Casey Kasem, the American Top 40 radio host who crafted a long and lucrative career out of counting down to No. 1, has died. He was 82. Kasem, who hosted the syndicated weekend show for nearly four decades, died of complications from dementia at St. Anthony's Hospital in Gig Harbor, Wash. Since his first broadcast from Hollywood on seven stations on July 4, 1970, to his finale on the same holiday weekend in 2009, the peppy Kasem ended each American Top 40 show with his signature line: "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars." Casey Kasem's career took him far from his Detroit roots, but he never forgot the place where he first cut his teeth as a deejay - and where he returned several times to celebrate Detroit radio. Growing up in the Motor City, Kasem was involved with Northwestern High School's radio club and majored in speech education at Wayne State University.
http://www.freep.com/article/20140615/ENT03/306150133/Casey-Kasem-Detroit-roots-radio
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140615/ENT09/306120157/