Sounding off: former TV host recalls War Memorial experiences

He speaks about it in great detail and with a certain fondness.  

For over 30 years, John Prost hosted television shows from The War Memorial as part of WMTV, the former public access television station. Prost said the local station was established in the 1970s and had a studio at The War Memorial near where the present Grosse Pointe Artists Association gallery is. He estimates that he hosted 5,000 episodes over the decades, including the series “Coffee Break with John Prost.”   

He explained that in the 1960s in America, cable television was being widely introduced. 

“John Rickel was board president and thought that instead of giving the local cable system to a commercial outfit, we should do it ourselves,” Prost said. “In Grosse Pointe they started doing it themselves and hired staff.”  

Rickel is a past president, treasurer and board member of the Grosse Pointe War Memorial Association.  

“The reason I came into the picture was that since the station was owned by the five Grosse Pointes and The War Memorial, they felt they needed a cable board,” Prost said.  

At that time, Prost was mayor pro tem of Grosse Pointe Park, a position he served in from 1979-1987. The 87-year-old has been a resident of Grosse Pointe Park since 1978. 

“I was over here so often and got to know everybody,” he said. “There was a fellow doing an interview show, he left, and they asked me if I could do it. I said I wasn’t a media person.”  

Lo and behold, Prost said once he started hosting shows on the station, it became a terrific endeavor.  

Speaking about station programming, Prost said many of the plays put on by the Grosse Pointe Theatre would be shown, as well as various Grosse Pointe Public Schools functions. 

His standard show was an interview format, lasting about 15 minutes, with two shows in any given week. 

“When I started, I couldn’t have everything on from Grosse Pointe, so I started highlighting nonprofits,” he said. “The funny part about it was that I talked to a lot of celebrities from Detroit and the reason I knew them was because I was president of the Detroit Athletic Club.”  

What Prost found was that those in the public light want to be on television, regardless of the audience size. 

“I was very clear that this is just cable television in the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods,” he said. 

Folks that Prost had on his shows over the years included former Detroit Zoological Society CEO Ron Kagan, former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, and Bob Bury, the former executive director and CEO of the Detroit Historical Society and current president and CEO of Fair Lane, the home of Clara and Henry Ford. 

Looking back on his years at the station, Prost said he enjoyed meeting new people and interviewing them. 

“I was never paid for it and we were successful doing it,” he said. 

Aside from his work at the station, Prost had a career in the insurance industry, retiring from Pacific Life in 2001. He also was a board member at The War Memorial in 2012 and 2013.       

This year, as part of our 75th anniversary, The War Memorial will share stories from the public about the impact and experiences they have had at the nonprofit organization. Do you have a special War Memorial story or memory? Join us in telling #myWMstory and share yours!