Mike Cleary
Elected
to the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame, 2007
An émigré from Chicago, Mike arrived on these
shores at 1260/KYA in 1966, spinning Top 40 tunes,
before moving down the dial to KNBR/68, the station that
would serve as his radio home for three decades.
In 1978, Mike teamed with Frank Dill
(a member of the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame's Class of
2006) to create one of the most popular morning shows in
local history.
In 1995, Mike left the show to develop a radio show on
food and travel. The result was the regionally
syndicated "Food & Travel Radio." The one-hour weekend
show, which he co-hosts with his wife Mary Ann, is heard
on stations throughout Northern California.
On the program, Mike and Mary Ann interview authors,
travelers, chefs, adventurers and others about their
interests and enthusiasms. Guests have included Julia
Child, Jacques and Claudine Pepin, author Peter Mayle,
Tom Smothers and Clint Eastwood's wife, former news
anchor Dina Ruiz-Eastwood.
In addition to his radio work, a generation of Bay Area
kids fondly recall Mike Cleary in his guise as "Sergeant
Sacto," which aired for two years on KBHK (Channel 44)
in the late 1960s.
After KNBR, Mike spent four years hosting a midday music
show on
960 KABL in San Francisco. Mike continues to
entertain listeners as morning man at Magic 63 (KIDD) in
Monterey. He was elected to the
Bay Area Radio Hall of
Fame in 2007, along with former KNBR teammates
Carter B. Smith and Ron Lyons.
