Remembering John Fonvielle (April 17, 1958 - January 23, 2026)
It’s with a very heavy heart that I’m passing on word of the death of John Fonvielle, longtime host of WHQR’s Magnolia Fatback Folk Hour. After a months-long illness, John passed away on Friday, January 23rd. He was 67.
John’s Saturday night show was a fixture on WHQR for well over 25 years. I first met him when he began calling in very tasteful musical requests during the first on-air year of Soup to Nuts. I finally asked “Who ARE you?” He replied “My name is John Fonvielle. I worked at Tower Records for ten years and I have ten thousand CDs...” After a moment of stunned silence, I replied “Well, bring some of them down here. We can really use them and you on-the-air!” John showed up the following week with a big bag of very choice selections and never left. I taught him how to run a radio board and off he went!
For all of those 25 years, John used his good taste and almost encyclopedic knowledge of folk, bluegrass, country and roots-rock to blend together an hour-long program which reflected his love of the music and the rich history he respected and honored each week. I can honestly say that I learned something interesting and valuable each time I listened to his show. John’s contribution to WHQR and its listeners over the years cannot be measured. Except by the loyalty and love of the listeners who tuned in on Saturday nights for so many years.
I plan to collaborate with his family and musical friends in the very near future on a memorial radio show to honor John. It’s the least WHQR can do in appreciation of his many years of service to this public radio station and its listeners. He will be fondly remembered and very much missed by so many of us.
George Scheibner