R.I.P.: WCVE Richmond Radio Host George Maida

George Maida

George Maida, a mellow-voiced announcer for non-com WCVE 88.9 FM who spotlighted folk, progressive and alternative rock in a weekly program on the Richmond public radio station, was killed Saturday morning when his car veered off Interstate 85 in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, a short distance from the North Carolina line.

He was 62, according to The Daily Progress.

Maida, who had worked for WCVE and its predecessor, WRFK-FM, for more than 30 years, was apparently traveling to North Carolina to spend Christmas with relatives, colleagues said Sunday.

Virginia State Police said in a written statement Saturday that Mr. Maida's 1997 Honda Civic left the road 1.5 miles north of the state line, struck an embankment and landed in a creek. State police divers discovered Mr. Maida's body and the car in about 8 feet of water.

WTVR Photo

Curtis Monk, chief executive officer of the Community Idea Stations, WCVE's parent, said on the company's website Sunday that Mr. Maida "loved the station and he loved this company" and "had developed a loyal and consistent audience" through his Saturday night show, The Electric Croude - pronounced crowd - and named for a Celtic, lyre-like instrument.

Of the shaggy-haired, bearded Mr. Maida, who was often seen at the radio station's Chesterfield County studios in a T-shirt and jeans, Monk said, "George was a good man and a personal friend ... Remember him with respect and honor him with laughter, music and a toast to life."

The Electric Croude premiered in 1985, initially as a showcase for Anglo-Celtic music, though Mr. Maida would expand its focus to include progressive and alternative rock. His broadcasts might include such now-rarely heard British acts as Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention, both of which were popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1960s.