Eastern Michigan University Dedicates Garden to Honor Lisa Barry
At Friday’s ceremony, (L-R) Barry’s son Parker, husband Frank, son Benjamin, WEMU General Manager Molly Motherwell and Eastern Michigan University President Dr. James Smith
On June 17, Eastern Michigan University held ceremonies to dedicate a memorial garden in honor of the late Lisa Barry, WEMU-FM radio host and reporter, who passed away on November 30, 2021. The garden is on the west side of King Hall, between Hover and King.
Lisa Barry was a lifelong metro Detroiter with a wealth of broadcast experience at most of the major commercial broadcast outlets in central and southeast Michigan. She began her career covering the Michigan Governor’s Office and State Capitol in Lansing and continued on to stints with Detroit stations WXYT and WNIC in addition to WJR. She was a seasoned interviewer whose resume includes conversations with U.S. Presidents, celebrities and medical professionals. Lisa won numerous awards; among them the prestigious ‘Outstanding Woman in Communications,’ bestowed annually by the American Women in Radio and TV Association of Metro Detroit. In 2015 Lisa left a high-profile, major market commercial radio career to join the team at WEMU, the NPR affiliate at Eastern Michigan University, because she wanted to tell meaningful, in-depth stories about the community. Her award-winning weekly segment, Art and Soul (for which original music was composed by bassist, Paul Keller) showcased the visual, performing and culinary arts as well as explorations into the art of mind and body. Her daily interviews covered current events, public health, state and local government and human interest stories,.Lisa amassed several MAB Broadcast Excellence Awards while at WEMU, including two in 2021 for her interviews with the UM Drum Major and for her on-the-floor interview with US Senator Debbie Stabenow shortly after the events of January 6, 2021.
WEMU posts that “Lisa Barry’s untimely death on November 30, 2021 left a hole on #teamwemu and left a hole in our hearts. We will continually strive to live up to the remarkable legacy she left.”