Frank Fixaris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Fixaris (b. 1934-05-06; d. 2006-01-13) was an American sportscaster, anchor, and reporter, spending the majority of his career at WGME-TV in Portland, Maine. He also co-hosted a morning radio show on WJAB after his television run.
Fixaris graduated from Emerson College in 1956 and worked at several radio stations early in his career. He took the job as a sports anchor at WGME in 1965 and continued there until 1995. He served as sports director there from 1967 until 1992.
He was the color commentator of the Maine Mariners, and later the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League. In honor of his many years of work with the Mariners/Pirates, the press box at the Cumberland County Civic Center bears his name as a memorial tribute. Fixaris is also remembered annually with an award in his name issued by the Portland Fire Department, as well as two scholarships for students studying communication science at Saint Joseph's College of Maine.
The Fix Cup, an annual high school hockey tournament in Portland (modeled after the Beanpot tournament), is named after Fixaris.
He was known as having an encyclopedic knowledge of all things sports, especially at the local level. Broadcasters Mike Emrick, Dale Arnold, and Tom Caron considered him as being instrumental in their development.
Fixaris was born in Torrington, Connecticut and died in a fire at his home in Falmouth, Maine on January 13th, 2006. His wife, Barbara, managed to escape the fire. Fixaris had been involved in another fire 45 years prior that had killed a roommate and left him with severe burns. He is buried at Evergreen cemetery in Portland, Maine.
