Sondra Gair

Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 1992

BSS 1945

Public affairs Chicago radio talk show host Gair was a veteran Chicago-based broadcast journalist best known for her public affairs talk show, Midday with Sondra Gair, which aired on WBEZ and focused on international news from 1986 until her death in May 1994. She began her local radio career in the 1940s, appearing on soap operas, dramas and comedy shows, including WGN radio’s Theater of the Air the Colgate Comedy Hour, Ma Perkins, Bachelor’s Children, Woman in White and Corliss Archer.  She became a star on a CBS show titled, Meet Miss Sherlock, about a female version of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Gair became interested in news reporting, and in 1975 she joined WBEZ-FM in Chicago, primarily doing on-air interviews, which later led to her popular midday show.