WWNO’s afternoon program host Jack Hopke will retire on August 31, after having presented news and music on WWNO 89.9 FM for the last thirteen years.  But Jack’s mellifluous voice will not leave the WWNO airwaves entirely. Jack will continue to host music programs, especially his popular “Saturday Night Jazz,” and will also as a substitute local host for NPR news programs.

Jack’s radio career began as general manager of Dartmouth College’s WDCR,the country’s only commercial, open-air, student-run AM station. After military service Jack returned to radio with WQBK-FM in Albany, NY, from which he left after seven years for work in the music recording industry with RCA, Warner Brothers, and Windham Hill Records.

Jack moved to New Orleans from Los Angeles in 1996 after a record industry career in which he handled marketing and promotion for numerous well-known recording artists, including Prince, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Zachary Richard, the Neville Brothers, and the Radiators.  He began work at WWNO in 2003 as the part-time Sunday morning announcer, and then began filling in as classical music announcer as well.  He continued with the station post-Katrina and became a full-time producer and program host in April 2006, best known as the local voice of “All Things Considered” on weekday afternoons and “Saturday Night Jazz.” Hopke has written for and also worked briefly at OffBeat and has a been a good friend to the magazine throughout his career.