Veteran broadcaster Duke Brooks departs WGMD-FM

Veteran broadcaster Sherwood “Duke” Brooks left his on-air position at WGMD-FM, Rehoboth Beach, prior to air Oct. 15.

“I’ve been honored to have the company of thousands of Delmarvans every weekday afternoon for over six years, but WGMD plans a new programming direction in which I have no experience,” said Brooks. “That, among several other reasons, meant that it was time for me to depart Resort Broadcasting LLC.”

Each weekday between 3 and 6 p.m., Brooks discussed world political situations, U.S. history and the fate of nations on Radio Free Delmarva. Brooks regularly applied logic, facts and the lessons of history to current events.

“But I have little knowledge of neighborhood-scale stories; I follow world-level megatrends and geopolitical strategy. Tip O’Neill, like today’s Democrat party hacks, was wrong when he said, ‘All politics is local.’ It simply isn’t,” Brooks said.

On the air for nearly half a century, Brooks has done every job in commercial radio broadcasting, except engineering and accounting, having started as an intern at WIFI-FM Philadelphia while a prep school senior.

“Helicopter traffic pilot/reporter and this position at one of America’s great radio stations were my two favorites,” he said.

Brooks first joined WGMD in fall 2009 as an evening talk-show host, but along with several other staffers, was let go Feb. 2, 2011. He worked as communication director for the Sussex County GOP and then for Delaware Republican Kevin Wade’s campaigns for the U.S. Senate. He returned to WGMD March 13, 2015, leaving his GOP spokesperson position, then quickly moved to the later afternoon drive slot. He remains an elected member of the Sussex Republican Committee.

Brooks was educated at the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia and at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication.