WXRT’s Richard Milne Stepping Down
• Richard Milne, a 36-year veteran of Audacy Triple A WXRT/Chicago announced his resignation as morning host in order to care for his ailing wife, Charlene, who has frontotemporal dementia and has been in hospice care since April. The news was initially reported by Chicago media columnist Robert Feder and independently confirmed by RAMP.
Milne, who had been on leave for five weeks until recently, initially shared this heartbreaking news in an April 13 Facebook post, along with this beautiful photo taken at the 1991 XRT July 4th concert, just two weeks after the couple got married.
In a staff email Milne said his last day on the air will be June 10, as he focuses all of his attention on the care of Charlene, whom he met in 1988 when she worked in the WXRT sales department. “It’s long been my intention to be with Charlene through every moment of our remaining time together,” Milne wrote. “Sadly, the end is coming more quickly than I ever would have guessed, and now is the time for me to fully step away.”
Milne (left) originally joined WXRT in July 1986 and was the one-time host of the long-running series Local Anesthetic. He later did middays until Jan. 2020, when he was elevated into mornings, swapping shifts with fellow three-decade XRT veteran Lin Brehmer.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to have become a day-to-day player, working alongside the most talented people in this business,” Milne wrote. “Every day has been inspired and rewarding.” Milne did leave the proverbial door open for an eventual return in some form, as he said, “I do intend to return some day, host the occasional Flashback, maybe do that Sunday afternoon thing again. We’ll see. Regardless, that won’t be until after a long period of mourning and reflection.”
Greg Solk, VP of Programming & Operations for Audacy Chicago, said a replacement for Milne would be announced soon.
