Remembering Orion Samuelson, John Hultman

Both were journalistic legends in Chicago radio

Also: Jorie Lueloff, the first female TV newscaster in Chicago, dies at 85

Chicago radio observers are mourning the loss of two huge giants who were at the top of their game from the 1960s through the 1980s. 

WGN Radio announced the passing of radio legend Orion Samuelson on Monday. Originally a dairy farmer from Wisconsin, Samuelson worked at WGN-AM for 60 years, arriving in 1960 from Green Bay’s WBAY-TV (where he was the Farm Director) and was there until his retirement in 2020. Samuelson reported from all 50 states and from 26 countries during his career. But Samuelson was best known for his reporting on the agriculture beat, as farmers relied on his reports every day. He also championed the 4-H organization.

“Orion Samuelson’s name resonates very much like his signature voice”, said WGN Radio GM Mary Boyle said in a statement. “It’s difficult to articulate the significance of his broadcasting career. While he was the farmer’s champion to be sure, his uniquely informative, friendly style developed broad rapport with everyday listeners as well.  A sixty year relationship with the WGN Radio audience educating us on many things, among them, if you eat, you’re involved in agriculture. A consummate gentleman with an inspirational work ethic, equally at ease with kids in a 4-H competition or  presidents. Meeting and working with Orion is a privilege I will forever hold dear.”

Samuelson also broke news too, and the biggest one he broke was on November 22, 1963 when he announced that President Kennedy was shot, during his Country Fair show while giving a report on the reelection of board directors to the Illinois Milk Producers Association: 

He also appeared on WGN-TV on an early-morning news/agriculture show called Top O’ The Morning, at a time when there were very few local morning news shows on TV. Here’s part of it from July 13, 1982: 

Samuelson received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the National Radio Hall of Fame, The Lincoln Medal, and the National 4-H Hall Of Fame. 

A few days earlier, WBBM-AM newsman John Hultman died at the age of 89. 

A native of north suburban Wilmette, Hultman got his start at a small Evanston radio station, and moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., where he worked at WPTA-TV and hosted a kids’ and a teen dance show. His first journalism job was in Detroit, where he worked at WWJ-AM and the then-named NBC affiliate WWJ-TV (now WDIV), as a reporter and news anchor. He arrived in Chicago in 1968 at WBBM-AM and was hired by John Callaway as the station was three months away from launching an all-news format. While anchoring the morning shift, Hultman became news director in 1972 and held that position for a decade. In 1984, Hultman was paired in mornings with an up-and-coming anchor: Felicia Middlebrooks. They were paired together until 1998 and again from 2008 to 2010. Hultman remained at the station as a fill-in anchor and reporter until 2020, when he retired.

Also announced on Monday, Jorie Luloff – the first female television newscaster in Chicago – died at the age of 85 on Thursday at a retirement home in Sarasota, Florida. Lueloff joined NBC-owned WMAQ-TV in 1965 as the station’s first female reporter and anchored the station’s noon news for more than a decade starting in 1968, including a newscast in December 1969 where Black Panther – and later U.S. Representative Bobby Rush came on the show to denounce the killing of Fred Hampton by Chicago Police. After leaving WMAQ in 1984, Lueloff joined ABC-owned WLS-TV, where she served as a commentator until 1992. She was inducted into the Chicago Television Academy’s Silver Circle in 1998.