Hearts are broken throughout the city of Detroit. Just five days after announcing he had colon cancer, 97.1 The Ticket morning host Jamie Samuelsen lost his fight against the disease on Saturday evening. BSM offers its condolences to his friends and family.
During his Monday morning radio show on 97.1 The Ticket last week, Samuelsen told his audience about his personal battle with colon cancer, a disease he fought for 19 months. A recent infection forced Samuelsen to take a few days off from his show, but the radio host was amazingly able to remain on-air throughout the 19 month-long bout with cancer.
“Each morning since my diagnosis, I got up, turned on the radio mic and got to talk sports,” Samuelsen said alongside his morning show co-host Mike Stone. “I needed the escape from cancer, just like so many of our listeners who face hardships, grief and illness, too, they turned to us in the morning for some levity in this crazy world. So I wanted to continue to have fun and not let cancer get in the way of doing what I loved. Connecting with listeners, laughing, teasing Stoney, all of it, it helped me be normal, while continuing to fight this disease.”
A Detroit sports radio figure for more than a quarter-century, the Bay Area bred Samuelsen entered the market in 1994, quickly making himself known in print, TV and radio. After a long tenure at WDFN, Samuelsen joined The Ticket in 2012, where he was paired with evening host and longtime friend Bob Wojnowski. Then in 2016, Samuelsen moved to morning drive on The Ticket with Mike Stone, where the duo enjoyed immense ratings success.
At the family’s request, Wojo announced the passing of Samuelsen Saturday night on Twitter. If you search “Jamie Samuelsen” on social media or just follow Wojo’s Twitter feed, it’s evident how beloved and respected he is by listeners and colleagues.
“I’m having a real hard time understanding Jamie’s passing,” Samuelsen’s longtime WDFN co-host Gregg Henson wrote on Twitter. “Jamie was one of the most thoughtful, loving souls I have ever met, I always marveled how he could stay so calm and cool while I was losing my lunatic mind. He was raised by a great family and built one just like it. I can’t stop thinking about his wife and kids and how hard it is to lose a true hero, those children will have rough days ahead, but wow, they were really fortunate to have a father like Jamie. You can bet one day they will build great families too.”
One of the main motives behind Samuelsen’s decision to publicize his colon cancer diagnosis was to encourage his audience to go get a colonoscopy.
“More people under the age of 50 are being diagnosed with colon cancer than ever before,” Samuelsen said. “Make sure you talk with your doctor and get that colonoscopy.”
The 48-year old Jamie Samuelsen is survived by his wife Christy McDonald, an anchor and reporter for Detroit PBS, and their three children, Caroline, 16, Josh, 14 and Catherine, 11.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
