Mark McEwen

Mark McEwen (born September 16, 1954, in San Antonio, Texas) is an American TV and radio personality arguably best known for his stint as the host of A&E's Live by Request.

Early life

McEwen was born in San Antonio, Texas. His father, Alfred, was a colonel in the Air Force, and when he was reassigned to Berlin, he and his family moved there when Mark was in the third grade. Three years later, the McEwen family moved again, this time to Montgomery, Alabama, finally ending up in Crownsville, Maryland, four years after that. His mother, Dolores, after raising six children, retired as a bank vice president. He attended Arundel High School in Gambrills, Maryland and then the University of Maryland, leaving there after three and a half years. While in college, he was on the college radio station WMUC. McEwen moved to Detroit to be a rock-and-roll DJ at WWWW-Detroit's W4. He next worked at (WLUP-The Loop) in Chicago, where he enrolled at Second City and began to do standup comedy. McEwen then moved to New York to continue his radio career, first at WAPP and then at WNEW-FM.^[1]

Career

McEwen began his radio career in New York City, working at WAPP during 1983 (partnered on-air with E.J. Crummey) and at WNEW-FM during 1984-86 (partnered on-air with Richard Neer).

McEwen worked for CBS starting in 1987 with CBS This Morning. In addition to doing the weather, he was the entertainment reporter as well. McEwen covered 16 Oscars, Grammys, Golden Globes and Country Music Association awards shows. He was awarded the CMA Media Achievement Award in 1992 and was named one of the country's "Ten Most Trusted TV News Personalities" in a TV Guide survey in February 1995. From 1996 to 1998, McEwen made two guest appearances on Space Ghost Coast to Coast. He contributed to the network's coverage of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, and the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and co-hosted (with Jane Robelot) daytime coverage of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, where he also ran with the Olympic Torch. McEwen was a correspondent on 48 Hours. He then performed a number of on-air roles for The Early Show on CBS from 1999 to 2002. He anchored the broadcast for two years. McEwen has interviewed five presidents: Bill Clinton, George Herbert Walker Bush, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. McEwen left CBS in October 2002 as The Early Show was completely revamped.^[2]

In 2004, McEwen joined WKMG-TV, the CBS affiliate in Orlando, where he became the morning news co-anchor and noon news anchor. However, in 2005, McEwen suffered a stroke that ended his stint as a news anchor for the station.^[3] McEwen had to learn to walk and talk again after the stroke, and the former right-hander now uses his left hand for most tasks. McEwen worked for WKMG as part of its Good Neighbor 6 community outreach program, doing stroke awareness commercials for the station, among other things. In 2008, he published a book about his health challenges entitled Change in the Weather: Life after Stroke; its foreword was written by Bill Cosby. McEwen was named a Stroke Ambassador in 2009 by the American Stroke Association for his "advocacy, leadership, achievement and philanthropy."^[4]

McEwen returned to The Early Show on September 11, 2010, doing the weather for the absent Lonnie Quinn for the weekend edition.^[5][6]

McEwen was the host for the First annual RAISE (Raising Awareness in Stroke Excellence) awards for the National Stroke Association in 2011. He also hosted the second awards in 2012.

McEwen hosted, produced and wrote 'McEwen's Mark', a television interview show, in 2012. He hosted the launch of Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb's blood-thinning drug Eliquis (in Chicago) in 2013. In 2014 he returned to WKMG-TV to host Positive Mark, which spotlights good news and inspirational news in Central Florida. He also writes a blog at iammarkmcewen.blogspot.com and has a website, markmcewen.com. McEwen gives motivational speeches around the country.

Personal life

McEwen currently resides in Florida with his wife, Denise, and their children. His brother, Kirk McEwen, was on 98 Rock-WIYY in Baltimore. He recently co-hosted the Kirk and Kage Show at 98.7 The Fan in Tampa Bay, Florida,^[7] and has now returned to the midday shift from 3 to 7PM on 98 Rock-WIYY in Baltimore.^[8]

References