Former Detroit news anchor and telethon host Joe Glover dies at 79

Former Detroit news anchor Joe Glover has died at 79.

Glover was a popular TV presence at WJBK-TV (Channel 2), which is now Fox 2 Detroit, from the 1970s to the early 1990s.

He passed away Friday morning at his home in Mobile, Alabama, according to the station.

The cause of death was complications from metastatic lung cancer.

"Our hearts are heavy tonight," Fox 2 Detroit posted on Twitter.

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Broadcast journalists across metro Detroit remembered Glover on social media.

"So very sorry to hear of the passing of former @FOX2News anchor Joe Glover — one of the class acts who set the Detroit anchoring standard so high," tweeted WDIV-TV (Channel 4) anchor Devin Scillian.

"There are few anchors than can command the respect and admiration that Joe did," posted WWJ-AM's Murray Feldman, a friend and former WJBK colleague. 

Dave LewAllen and Carolyn Clifford of WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) also expressed their condolences.

A respected figure in Motor City media who had a big heart for charitable work, Glover was born in Delaware and grew up in Massachusetts, according to an online obituary in Alabama's Press-Register newspaper.

A graduate of the University of Miami, he had a long, Emmy-winning career as a TV reporter and anchor for several stations across the country, including ones in New York and California.

Glover worked for WJBK-TV from 1974-83 and then from 1988-93. Among his co-anchors was pioneering African-American female anchor Beverly Payne.

At a time when competition was fierce in local TV news and anchors were treated like superstars, he wasn't that interested in the celebrity side of the job. 

In his book "A Newscast for the Masses: The History of Detroit Television News," Tim Kiska described Glover as thoroughly professional, smooth and proud of the fact that he was devoted to news.

"I tried to be a journalist rather than a television personality," said Glover. "I always kind of resisted that. I always thought the story was more important."

Glover was known for his role as a local host for the Jerry Lewis-led Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon. 

In 2017, veteran entertainment attorney Henry Baskin talked to the Free Press about Glover's dedication to working for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

"He was totally committed to it, to the point that it became part of his life," said Baskin.

After leaving TV, Glover earned a doctorate degree at the University of Florida. He taught broadcast journalism at the University of South Alabama until illness forced him to retire in 2017. 

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.

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