Middle Georgia Broadcaster MaryTherese Grabowski Griffin was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame, during its 13th annual induction banquet in LaGrange on Saturday evening, October 26. Griffin graduated from Wesleyan College in 1992 with a communications degree, and is a Career Achievement inductee in the hall of fame’s class of 2019.
Griffin, who was always known on the air by her first name, started her radio career on the overnight shift in 1988 at WAYS-FM in Macon. At the same time she was pursuing her degree at Wesleyan College, often getting only a couple of hours sleep before going to an 8 o’clock class. Before becoming a top-rated news anchor/reporter at WMAZ-TV, MaryTherese also co-hosted a morning show on WMAZ-AM, and served as an account executive for both radio stations. When local personality radio returned to Macon in 2016 with The Fox Classic Hits Network, MaryTherese became news director/morning local news anchor on this group of stations. Even while living in suburban Washington, D.C., and later suburban Atlanta, MaryTherese was able to provide a daily local news product, delivered by a well-known broadcast personality. Though she had been away from Middle Georgia for a few years, her connections with local organizations, and especially Robins Air Force Base, were quickly re-established.
“I love people. I love radio. The ultimate connect to people is radio and I’ve been blessed beyond measure to work in this field and learn from some of the greats. I am humbled to be sharing broadcast history with them,” said MaryTherese during her acceptance remarks. She joins three other Wesleyan alumnae as inductees. Helen Farmer Popejoy '44, who graduated from Wesleyan Conservatory, was a posthumous inductee in the hall of fame’s first class, Sylvia Clark '60, was a legacy inductee in 2010, and Laura Starling '84, was a Career Achievement inductee last year.
The Georgia Radio Hall of Fame organization has been in existence since 2007. In addition to its late-October induction every year, the hall of fame operates the Georgia Radio Museum at 714 Lincoln Street in LaGrange.