Colorful Reagan pal, USIA chief dead at 90

[Dr. Whiplash]

Longtime friend of Ronald Reagan, former USIA chief Charles Wick dead at 90

Charles Z. Wick, an original member of the "kitchen cabinet" that launched Ronald Reagan's 1966 run for California governor, and who became the longest-serving director of the U.S. Information Agency, has died of cardiopulmonary failure at his home in Los Angeles. He was 90. He was born Charles Zwick in Cleveland, earned his undergraduate degree in music from the University of Michigan in 1940, and gained a law degree from his hometown's Case Western Reserve University in 1943.

During his USIA tenure from 1981 to 1989, Wick was credited with raising the profile and influence of a traditionally staid agency. He was an impassioned Cold Warrior and used his close friendship with Reagan to more than double the USIA budget for projects that drastically expanded its reach, including the launch of Voice of America's anti-Castro Radio Marti and Worldnet, the first live global satellite television network.

Wick also emerged as one of the most controversial personalities in Washington in the 1980s, not only for having an abrasive demeanor, but also for orchestrating USIA efforts criticized as heavy-handed and propagandistic. He defended his approach as a "war of ideas" to counter Soviet propaganda. In 1982, when Poland was enduring martial law and food shortages because of its resistance to the Soviet Union, he authorized a 90-minute telecast called "Let Poland Be Poland." The program featured Frank Sinatra singing in Polish and Charlton Heston declaiming about Pope John Paul II, a native Pole.

Wick suspected he was a target of the KGB and had a $32,000 security system installed at his home in 1983. Later that year he was in the headlines for secretly taping his phone calls. A General Services Administration investigation revealed that callers who were taped without their knowledge included former President Jimmy Carter, newscaster Walter Cronkite and actor Kirk Douglas. Wick publicly apologized for "doing a very dumb thing."

As an undergraduate in Ann Arbor, Wick supported himself as a student by playing the piano and arranging music for a dance band he organized. He came to the attention of bandleader Tommy Dorsey, for whom he later handled the orchestra's business and legal affairs and coached its vocal group.

Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Mary Jane, of Los Angeles; five children, C.Z., Doug, Pamela, Cynthia and Kimberly, all of Los Angeles; and eight grandchildren.

[Dave Loudin]

Although he didn't know much about broadcasting, he did manage to get money to rehab VOA's studios and transmitting facilities. Sitting Reagan in front of the antiquated master control (rotary dials and patch cords) for his worldwide messages allegedly was what finally did the trick.