An award-winning, investigative journalist who spent more than 30 years as an anchor and reporter for 9NEWS in Denver died Sunday.
“Very sad news to report tonight,” 9NEWS anchor Tom Green said in a post on social media Tuesday. “Our friend & longtime colleague Ward Lucas has passed away.”
Lucas, who retired in 2009 after 33 years of reporting and anchoring at 9NEWS in Denver, died Sunday at age 75.
“Ward Lucas overflowed with a key characteristic of great journalists: curiosity,” 9NEWS journalist Kyle Clark said on social media Tuesday. “His deep curiosity led him to become deeply knowledgeable on a wild array of topics. He generously shared that knowledge in long chats with this reporter when we worked weekends together years ago.”
For years at 9NEWS, Lucas — who was part of the original “I-Team” — partnered with photographer John Fosholt, and they made a multi-award-winning duo.
“We went through some strange and tough moments together as an investigative team,” Fosholt told the Denver Post after Lucas’ retirement, remembering everything from documentaries to traveling to the former Soviet Union. “I think we did some good work along the way.”
Lucas began his broadcasting career at just 16 years old, hosting radio talk shows in Seattle, Washington, according to his website. In 1974 he made the move into television at a CBS station in Seattle and then, two years later, moved to 9NEWS in Denver.
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Throughout his time as an investigative reporter, Lucas won more than 70 awards for his work, including 11 Emmy Awards and the George Polk Award in 1983. He was inducted into the Heartland Emmys Silver Circle in 2008 and Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado in 2018.
Lucas’ more than 40 years of investigative journalism included covering the DB Cooper hijacking and the Ted Bundy murders. After retiring from 9NEWS, he wrote three books: “Neighbors at War! The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowner’s Association,” “Sometimes Ya Gotta Ride the Elephant” and “The Wacky World of a Recovering Army Brat Family.”
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