R.I.P.: John McDonald, Portland-Area Radio Host

John MacDonald

Portland-area author and storyteller John McDonald, a fixture on local talk radio for 25 years known for his dry humor and interviewing style, died Tuesday.   He was 78 and had been in poor health for more than a year.

McDonald started his career as a radio DJ in Hancock County, where he developed his own brand of Down East humor. One night, two well-known Maine humorists, Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan (known for their comedy album "Bert & I"), were performing at a local theater and asked McDonald to join them on stage.

He soon graduated to writing columns, often humorous, first for the Bangor Daily News and later for the Portland Press Herald and other publications.

Crash Barry, another Maine writer and humorist a generation younger than McDonald, said he always marveled as his creative output.

"He was an inspiration because he did columns, wrote books, did radio, all at the same time," Barry said. "And his stage presence was very unique. People loved him."

McDonald is likely best known for his weekly radio show on WGAN, a news and talk station, that ran on Saturdays and Sundays for 25 years. He would conduct interviews with local newsmakers and take calls from loyal listeners.

McDonald was let go from WGAN in April 2020 and started to develop health problems shortly thereafter.