Funeral services were pending Sunday for Will Lewis, the former KPFK general manager who served a couple weeks in federal prison in 1974 for refusing an FBI request to turn over tapes acquired from the Symbionese Liberation Army after the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.
Lewis, who later worked at Santa Monica’s KCRW for 33 years, died Friday morning at his Thousand Oaks home from natural causes, according to his son Robert Lewis. He was 94.
The former Marine and Korean War veteran was at the helm of KPFK during the early 1970s, when roiling social change and the increasing involvement of celebrities in politics created great opportunities for public radio.
The station became known for its leftist ideology and won awards for its Watergate coverage. Actors Martin Sheen, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda and her then-politician husband Tom Hayden, who stood trial in the Chicago Seven case, were among many high-profile visitors at the station during Lewis’ leadership, according to his son.
In 1974, the station acquired tapes from the Symbionese Liberation Army after the terrorist group kidnapped Hearst in a case that made national headlines for months. After repeated requests by the FBI and being subpoenaed, Lewis cited the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press to no avail at a grand jury and was sent to federal prison for 15 days at Terminal Island.
He was finally ordered released by Supreme Court justice William O. Douglas.
That same year, KPFK became the first public radio station to air a show produced and hosted exclusively by and for the gay community, “The Great Gay Radio Conspiracy.”
After leaving KPFK, Lewis enjoyed a 33-year tenure at Santa Monica’s KCRW, where he worked a management and fundraising consultant.
Prior to coming west, Lewis taught radio and television news at the University of Florida and was a general manager at WBUR Boston.
In 2010, he was elected president of the Los Angeles Press Club and served in that capacity for several years.
He retired from KCRW in 2010.
“We wanted to make public radio important,” he said at the time. “Listeners wanted current news stories and NPR was not broadcasting updated headlines.”
Lewis is survived by his two brothers, Joel and Marty, his five sons, and four grandchildren.