Fred Lewis

How appropriate that the City Council would declare Sept. 18, 2007, as “Fred Lewis Day in the City of San Diego.” In his 46 years in San Diego, Fred Lewis’ rich baritone became one of the most recognizable voices in town, next to Jerry Coleman perhaps the most recognizable of his generation.

As a broadcaster of serious radio journalism, moreso as a pioneer of television journalism, Lewis deserves the recognition and appreciation of all San Diegans. With the help of wife and TV producer Jenny Lewis, the County Board of Education’s ITV, Time Warner’s studio in Mira Mesa and a band of technicians and sponsors, Lewis topped his career with a 12-year broadcast of “The Heart of San Diego,” one of San Diego’s longest-running interview programs still on the air.

His contemporaries retired one after another, while Lewis kept on asking questions. He asked 653 San Diegans, mostly movers and shakers, to sit still for 30 minutes while he probed their lives, from their childhood heroes to their professional and civic accomplishments and hopes for the future. His most-requested “Heart of San Diego” tape was C. Arnholt Smith, the great industrialist and fallen and jailed banker who consented to the interview in his 90s, not long before Smith died. Smith got and deserved 60 minutes, as did Pete Wilson, among the few who earned two 30-minute programs. (Wilson was interviewed after he served two terms as governor and did not break Lewis’ rule against interviewing sitting elected officials.)

Lewis’ final poignant interview, with wife Jenny, aired in August, but the historic “Heart of San Diego” tapes continue to air at 5 p.m. Sundays and 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday on ITV’s Channel 16. Lewis, who was ailing from prostate cancer, died Sept. 6 at age 78. No services are planned, but family and friends still are looking forward to the City Council proclamation at 10 a.m. Sept. 18 in the Council Chambers, 10th floor, 202 C St. in Downtown San Diego.

(The entire “Heart of San Diego” collection of 653 interviews is held at the SDSU Media Library and elsewhere. Click here for a complete list of interview subjects.)

Born and raised in Chicago, the young Fred Lewis aspired “to be an announcer and talk with people and wanted to have a perfect voice,” says Jenny Lewis. “He studied with Everett Clarke, (the voice of) the Whistler and the Shadow (of 1930s and ’40s radio fame). He was certainly one of his heroes and mentors.

“When he came to San Diego in 1961, he was coming from Milwaukee. Born and raised in Chicago, he’s a Midwest guy. He was up for an interview at CBS in Chicago and he said, ‘If I get that job, I’m stuck here for the rest of my life. Why don’t I go to the city I want to retire in?’ And so he came here without a job in 1961. We were still largely a Navy town and kind of a baby city back then.”

Lewis landed his first San Diego reporting job that year and eventually became the news director or sports director of KSON, KGB, KDEO and KSDO, where he was part of a team that introduced the news/talk format to San Diego. His sports background included more than 15 years as the sports director of KSDS-FM Jazz 88. He succeeded the legendary Harold Keen as host of KFMB Channel 8’s “Telepulse” program, and later, in 1982, introduced the genre of the “infomercial” to national television. His “Conversations with Fred Lewis” was a long-running public affairs program originated at Cox Cable.

Various forms of his infomercial ran for seven years and led to Lewis being selected to host three other national shows and an appearance on the Sally Jesse Raphael program. A tennis aficionado, he served as the announcer and host of the nationally televised women’s tennis tournament at La Costa, the Acura Classic and its predecessors, for most of the existence, retiring only recently as on-court host. And he worked numerous other tennis events on TV and as the on-court host.

For more than 20 years he was ring announcer for most of San Diego’s major boxing events such as the Ali -Norton fight in 1973. Lewis even called the first nationally televised racquetball tournament for PBS. His was the first voice ever amplified in the San Diego Sports Arena, where he announced hockey’s Gulls and the NBA’s Rockets games.

Among his honors, in 1998, the San Diego Press Club’s Headliners Committee named Lewis a “Broadcast Legend,” a rarity. In 2000, the Congress of History of San Diego and Imperial Counties gave its Media Award to Lewis “for significant contributions to the preservation and development of the history of this region.”

Indeed, the Historical Society of San Diego became one of Lewis’ favorite sponsors of “The Heart of San Diego” series, which is probably how the oldest and youngest generations of San Diegans will remember him best.

“He was in his 60s and knew that his career probably was wrapping up,” recalls Jenny Lewis. “He said he wanted to do something for the community. And his skills were television so he tried to put together this oral history from people who’d made a difference in the city from all different walks of life. He went to Pete Davis and asked if he’d want to help sponsor it and he sponsored the whole thing.

“His first interview was Neil Morgan. Craig Noel was No. 3. C. Arnholt Smith was certainly in the first bunch. Archie Moore was the 10th one; I remember that well. And it just took off. I also think Fred’s reputation helped him; he’d been interviewing people for years. So he had no trouble. At the beginning I thought he’d be thrilled if he got 200 done. Even though the bank (Bank of Commerce) changed hands and he had to find new sponsors, it was always the first people he went to who agreed to do it. He did 653 shows before he retried.”

In 1994, “Fred Lewis, who two decades earlier had been my speech instructor, came to me with an idea to record San Diego’s history,” recalls Peter Q. Davis, the former chairman of Bank of Commerce and the Centre City Development Corp. “Like many others, I have a fondness for San Diego history and only wish we had film clips of the earliest history makers - Alonzo Horton, George Marston, Congressman Kettner. Wouldn’t it have been great to have Father Serra discuss his early days here? I quickly agreed.

“Fortunately the recession was over and the S&L crisis had passed us over and so we (at the Bank of Commerce) were in a position to provide Fred with the financial support to get him started. Early on, Fred and I worked together to decide who we should ‘rush’ to interview. C. Arnholt Smith was of course an early but controversial subject. He was getting up there in age, over 90, and had been one of San Diego’s biggest failures, though he had meant so much to San Diego during the ’50s and ’60s. We felt we owed it to those who follow to have him on tape. It worked great. C. Arnholt was very logical and there was no controversy from television viewers.”

The San Diego Metropolitan Magazine, San Diego Foundation, Manchester Financial, Roel Construction Co. and Ace Parking also sponsored “The Heart of San Diego” over the years.

Aside from tennis and sports, Lewis loved teaching speech and broadcasting at City College, and also taught at UCSD and National University. He held a bachelor’s and two graduate degrees.

Jenny Lewis recalls her future husband “met Jack Kennedy when he was running for office in 1960,” and would list him among those most admired. “I think he had lots of heroes and you didn’t need to be famous to be one of his heroes. My brother, John Shacklett, was the Morse High School football coach who... gave to the community. Fred really admired that.”

What are your favorite places in San Diego? (He loved to ask that question.) “He loved La Jolla,” says Mrs. Lewis. “We moved here largely to be with our new grandson. And he loved the ocean view. This was his favorite part of San Diego.”

How would Fred Lewis like San Diegans to remember him?

“I think just as somebody who tried to tell the truth and tried to give something to his community.”

That he did, and unlike mere mortals, continues to give in reruns.

The president of Fred Lewis Productions Inc., Lewis received a national “Telly” award for a documentary on “San Diego: The 1996 International Tennis City of The Year.” Lewis was active with many local organizations, and has been honored by the San Diego Press Club, San Diego Foundation, San Diego Historical Society, Arthritis Foundation, San Diego County Board of Education, Women’s International Center, Acura Tennis Classic, the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Sigma Delta Chi.

As serious as Lewis was, he also was a fun-loving and affectionate fellow. He ended each broadcast bringing his hand to his heart, and intoned his thanks in that smooth, deep voice from “The Heart... of San Diego.”