Maine Broadcasters HOF Adds Three
• Three legendary Maine broadcasters have been selected to be inducted into the Maine Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame: Rene Cloukey, Barbara Quill, and Malcolm Leary.
• Rene Cloukey has been a broadcaster for nearly 50 years, and this year celebrated his 40th anniversary with WAGM-TV/Presque Isle, ME. Known as the voice of Aroostook County sports, Cloukey is a member of the National Sportscaster and Sports Writers Association, a five-time winner of Maine Sportscaster of the Year, and a member of the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Fame. For the past 35 years Cloukey has hosted the Rene Cloukey Challenge golf tournament to benefit Special Olympics.
Cloukey is also this year’s recipient of the prestigious Suzanne Goucher Broadcast Achievement Award, named in memory of Suzanne Goucher, who served as President & CEO of the MAB for 28 years until her sudden passing in 2022, and which carries automatic induction into the MAB Hall of Fame.
• Barbara Quill was the first female news anchor in Maine. She was hired in 1973 as a Radio & TV News anchor and reporter for WGAN-AM and WGAN/WGME-TV (Channel 13), where she stayed until 1984. A household name in the Portland market, Quill is known for her journalistic skills, especially for in-depth interviews with local, state and national politicians, celebrities and world leaders.
Barbara was also a member of the international media delegation that traveled to Russia in 1983 with a young Samantha Smith. During a later appearance on The Tonight Show, when Johnny Carson asked Samantha if she had met anyone famous in Russia, she replied, “Barbara Quill!”
• Malcolm Leary, who passed away last year, had a broadcasting career in Maine that spanned more than 45 years in both commercial and public Radio and TV. He was known as the “Dean of the State House Press Corps” because of his deep knowledge of politics, government and Maine history. Winner of many journalism and MAB Awards, Leary always had time to mentor young journalists learning the trade.
The Inductees were selected by a Committee comprised of MAB Board members as well as past Hall of Fame inductees. Their selections were ratified by the full MAB Board of Directors at their recent July meeting.
MAB President & CEO Tim Moore remarked, “The Committee and the Board had an exceedingly tough job this year, as there were over a dozen worthy nominees. Nominees who were not selected this year will be carried over for the next two years. I’m grateful to the Committee for their careful consideration.”
The Suzanne Goucher Broadcast Achievement Award and Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at the MAB Annual Meeting and Awards Gala on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at the Sable Oaks Sheraton in South Portland, ME.
