Dennis Daily, a Washington native whose career in broadcasting spanned over 50 years, passed away in 2024, leaving a legacy of journalism and storytelling that took him across America from ordinary living rooms to the lives of the famous.
During his childhood in Washington, where he attended Washington Catholic schools, Dennis developed a passion for the two interests that would come to define his career; travel and the radio. Dennis would accompany his family on long road trips to visit relatives in Washington D.C., collecting more than 1,000 maps from gas stations and any other roadside attraction he could find. When he was in elementary school, his father gifted him an old tube radio through which Dennis discovered a new gateway to the world, such as his favorite program, Ed and Wendy King’s “Party Line” on KDKA in Pittsburgh.
An important moment in Dennis’s youth came when TV broadcaster Frank Edwards visited Washington to sign his new book. Unable to afford the book, young Dennis approached Edwards with his fifth-grade reader instead. Edwards not only signed it but prophetically told the talkative boy he would likely end up in radio, adding, "I'll be watching you."
Dennis’s professional broadcasting career began on July 17, 1965, at WFML in Washington, where he worked for the longtime local broadcaster Joe Edwards. After the nervous youngster initially could not manage to say a word on the air, an exasperated Edwards told him, “I’m not paying you just to spin records, now open your mic and say something." Dennis would seldom be found speechless again.
While working at WFML Dennis pursued his education at Vincennes University and Indiana University, where he learned from the likes of VU journalism professor Fred Walker. He then spent some time serving as the news director at WAOV in Vincennes. As a local broadcaster, Dennis would often reach out to national journalists for advice, making connections with Edward P. Morgan of ABC and CBS news personalities Douglas Edwards, Reed Collins, and Lowell Thomas.
In 1976, Dennis made the fateful decision to leave Indiana for Washington DC where he joined WAVA radio as a newscaster. Though his time with that station would be short, it was nonetheless full of action, as Dennis found himself in the middle of covering the 1977 Hanafi Siege when a group of terrorists seized buildings and hostages in the capital’s downtown.
After stints producing ads for the USDA and serving as press secretary for Representative David Cornwell, Dennis’s career took him to United Press International, then the largest news organization in the world. Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, he delivered more than 15,000 live newscasts and specials for UPI including his half-hour travel program "American Montage,” which took him to nearly every state in the union and sometimes beyond. Broadcasting from locations as diverse as the top of the Golden Gate Bridge to the golf courses of St. Andrews, the show also featured interviews with celebrities like Charlton Heston, Carol Channing, and Mickey Rooney.
His career was marked by remarkable encounters and friendships with broadcasting legends. Dennis worked alongside Larry King at the Mutual Broadcasting System, became friends with Fred Foy (the famous announcer of "The Lone Ranger"), and maintained a long-running collaboration with Jimmy Weldon, the voice of Yakky Doodle.
In his later years, Dennis managed news departments for radio stations in central California while branching out into new digital media. For 15 years he produced regular content for his YouTube channel, typically exploring his favorite themes of traveling America’s highways and byways. Though by his own admission he never become wealthy, he often reflected that his greatest rewards came in the form of memories, recordings, photographs, and the countless friendships he formed throughout his career.
Through all his travels, Dennis also never forgot his hometown of Washington, returning for many years to produce live broadcasts from area churches on Christmas Eve. In the late 1980s, after a business shakeup cast doubt on the future of FM radio in the city, Dennis helped Washington businessman Bill Greene petition the FCC for a new radio station, which would become WAMW 107.9 FM.
Dennis’s journey from a small Indiana town to a national broadcasting career is a testament to what someone can achieve with boldness, ambition, and a commitment to turning your passion into a way of life. His relentless enthusiasm took him on a lifetime of adventures and created a lasting inspiration for future dreamers with talent and imagination.