Johnny L.A., it was good you highlighted Ruth Seymour’s passing. She was involved in a lot of public TV development so I wondered what shone out at you most from her life.
She founded KCRW, which was one of the two public radio stations I listened to in L.A. (The other being KPCC, Pasadena). Without her, I wouldn’t have heard This American Life or Morning Becomes Eclectic. To this day when I hear an NPR reporter who is reporting from KCRW I think, ‘I used to live less than five miles from them,’ and remember the good things about living in L.A.
My car radio dial rarely moved from 89.9 during the six years I commuted between Pasadena and Long Beach. I certainly recognize the name Ruth Seymour from that time, but I didn’t know much about her career until now.
I only remember her from KCRW, and that she had a very strong New York accent. I found myself listening more and more over the years to KPCC (LAist now), because it jibed more with my tastes.
I think it’s still KPCC it’s just they branded themselves as LAist. It’s like how a station calls itself “Hank” or Alice" but it’s actually still WXXX or KZZZ or whatever.
Yeah, and it’s confusing as heck!