BALTIMORE — One of WMAR’s legacy home run hitters is leaving the dugout this week.
Jamie Costello has been telling stories for longer than half of the newsroom has been alive. He is a walking, talking Baltimore library. He’s got a biography for every bird and a rant for every raven.
Even when he’s off camera, he’s still that same 10-year-old kid who decided to be a journalist all those years ago in Baltimore County.
His passion, joy, and excitement never fail to pull you into his story, no matter the subject.
He doesn’t need a set of lights, a camera, or a microphone. He simply needs a minute of your time, an open ear, and an open heart.
We have been blessed for 37 years to spend time with Jamie. We hope you have enjoyed seeing him every night as much as we enjoyed being his friend and teammate.
He may be leaving the station on Friday, but he’s never leaving our hearts.
“I will tell you my brother was older, much older than I, and he went to the Citadel, and he went off to college,” said Jamie.
“My father was in the army, and he got stationed in Korea. So it's just me and my mother in Rosedale. And I remember here in the house, you know, when it went to bed at night, everything—the doors, the windows, the shades, everything—would shake. And I said, What's that? What's that? My mother told me, turn on the radio. So I turned on the radio, and I went up and down the dial, and I'd be in WBZ in Boston. I'd be in St Louis, WLS in Chicago, and I go up and down that dial, and I'd fall asleep with the radio on, and I'd want to be in that box.”
