Lincoln Ware was almost speechless — which hasn't happed often in his 50-year Cincinnati radio career.
"I'm thinking: Have I died? Am I dreaming all of this?" says Ware, 73, who had given voice to Cincinnati's Black community on his radio talk shows for decades.
Cincinnati City Council will honor his 50 years on the city airwaves Friday with a ceremonial "Lincoln Ware Way" naming of Glenwood Avenue in Avondale near the former studios of WCIN-AM, founded in 1953 as the nation's first station for African-Americans east of the Mississippi River.
"Fifty years ago, in April of '73, when I was driving down to Glenwood Avenue, I never could have imagined this would be happening. I don't believe it now! This is huge! It's unbelievable!" Ware says.
"Driving down to WCIN in April of '73 I was nervous as heck. It was my first day," Ware recalls.
No other African-American has been on the Cincinnati airwaves longer than Ware, who also has worked at WIZF-FM, WLW-AM and WPFB-FM. In July, he was nominated for a prestigious Marconi Award from the National Association of Broadcasters for radio excellence as a "large market personality of the year."
The Woodward High School graduate was hired as WDJO-AM (1480) afternoon DJ after being discharged from the U.S. Marines. He made his broadcasting debut in the U.S.S. Midway radio studio on the Armed Forces Radio Television Service network while assigned to a Marines security detail on the ship.
WCIN-AM was the voice of Cincinnati's African American community until Ware left in 2000 for a new rival, WDBZ-AM (1230), "the BUZZ of Cincinnati." He hosts 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays on WDBZ-AM and Facebook Live; his show repeats 4-7 p.m. on WDBZ-AM. He also hosts Cincinnati Issues with Lincoln Ware 6:30 a.m. Sundays at WSTR-TV (Channel 64).
"Lincoln Ware has made a lasting impact on the Cincinnati local media community and to health and wellness within the African American community with his Lincoln Ware Walking Club," said the council announcement. "His legacy, contributions, and dedication to the City of Cincinnati and its citizens will long be remembered."
Ware says he will be on the air at least through the 2024 presidential election, and maybe longer.
"I'm in good health. We're going year-to-year (with contracts) because you never know at age 73. I'm still having fun. When I stop having fun, then I'm gone," he says.
WCIN-AM went into receivership in 2007, and moved to Reading Road and Lexington Avenue near Avondale Town Center. New owners changed it to oldies WDJO-AM and moved studios into the WXIX-TV building in Queensgate.
"WCIN is gone. There's no trace of a radio station there (on Glenwood). The towers and everything are gone," Ware says.
But Ware — WCIN's best known personality — will see his name on the sign post at Vine Street and Glenwood Avenue at 1:30 p.m. Friday. Vice Mayor Jan Michele Lemon Kearney will emcee the program.
Among the speakers will be Bootsy Collins, who met Ware hanging out at WCIN; Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece, who produced Ware's WCIN-AM talk show; Mayor Aftab Pureval; Ware's wife, Sharon; and their daughters, Tia Ware, who manages pharmacies in Weis Markets grocery stores in and around Washington, D.C., and Tamiko Ware Mauldin, a recruiter for Mercy Health.
