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| John Cody |
The 71-year-old award-winning feature and investigative reporter began in 1965, when he started as a reporter, rewriter, and radio editor for the former City News Bureau of Chicago. After joining WBBM as a writer/producer in 1967 (one year before the station went all-news), he reported for Pacific Stars and Stripes in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970 and earned a Bronze Star. He returned to WBBM, moving up to full-time reporter in 1973.
Cody said his immediate plans are to go scuba diving with his son. Of his remarkable run in Chicago radio news, he said: “I just feel lucky.”
Ron Gleason, WBBM-AM's Director of News and Programming, sent out the following well-worded memo to station staffers Friday:
"May 6th, WBBM will celebrate 47 years as Newsradio. It's with mixed emotions that I tell you we'll be celebrating without a Newsradio original. One of the great journalists in Chicago history is retiring. John Cody left City News in 1967 to join WBBM as a writer/producer. It wasn't until the next year CBS realized they had a gem at the desk, and they needed to surround him with all news, all the time. In 1973 John moved full-time to the airwaves, crafting incredible stories for and about the people of this great city. Please wish John all the best. Barring breaking news (of course), Cody's last day will be next month, Friday the 13th. Clearly an unlucky day for WBBM.
Those of us who joined the station after John -- and that would be every single person here -- owe him a debt of gratitude for helping build WBBM Newsradio into an incredible powerhouse of news and information. We've got an amazing group of talented journalists who will keep the tradition alive, but there's only one John Cody.
Please join me in wishing him nothing but great times ahead -- congratulations John Cody on a great career. We will miss you!"
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