What's Ira Joe Fisher been up to since he left WKRC-TV in 1989? And how did he learn to write his weather forecasts backwards?
Ask him yourself! He'll be on WVXU-FM's "Cincinnati Edition" show with me at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Channel 12's popular weatherman in the 1980s will join us by phone from Connecticut, where he's an actor, poet, communications consultant and college instructor.
"I'm teaching poetry at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry NY (where I see Edie Magus frequently) and the University of Connecticut. I always wanted to teach at a college whose mascot matches my trouser size. Husky," Ira Joe tells me.
Ira Joe and I friended each other on Facebook a couple of months ago, and got to talking, so we invited him onto "Cincinnati Edition" to chat with his old friends in Cincinnati.
For those who don't know Ira Joe:
He was born in Salamanca, N.Y., where he started in radio at age 16. After 10 years on Spokane TV/radio, he came to Channel 12 in 1980. He was part of Channel 12's top-rated Nick Clooney/Dennis Janson/Ira Joe Fisher anchor team which ended Al Schottelkotte's 22-year streak at No. 1 for WCPO-TV (Channel 9). He also-hosted "P.M. Magazine" on Channel 12.
Ira Joe parlayed his Cincinnati success into a job at ABC in New York, where he was a weather and features reporter at WABC-TV and "Live with Regis and Kathy Lee" (1983-85). Then Channel 12 lured him back in 1986 to host "The Ira Joe Fisher Show," a live morning TV show for three years.
I hadn't heard from him in more than 25 years, since he left Channel 12 in 1989 to go back to New York. He worked for WNBC-TV, and then went to New York's WCBS-TV and the CBS "Early Show," where he again did "backward" weather forecasts. (I won't tell you how. You'll have to ask him.)
On stage, Ira Joe performed in the long-running musical "The Fantasticks" beginning in 1995, which he calls "an acting, singing and dancing delight." He also played Henry VIII in the musical "The Prince and the Pauper" at New York City’s Lambs Theatre, and appeared in the movie "California Girls" with Robbie Benson and ABC"s "Loving" soap.
Here's a link to his IraJoeFisher website, which has info about his poetry books and other ventures.
Talk to you Wednesday!
