# KCRW founder Ruth Seymour died on Friday, Dec. 22, 2023 at the age of 88 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death, radio-podcast\ **Created:** [December 23, 2023, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kcrw-founder-ruth-seymour-died-on-friday-dec-22-2023-at-the-age-of-88/995025 "2023-12-23T04:19:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kcrw-founder-ruth-seymour-died-on-friday-dec-22-2023-at-the-age-of-88/995025/1 "2023-12-23T04:19:40Z")
> **[Ruth Seymour, KCRW founder and NPR pioneer, dies at 88 | KCRW Features](https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/kcrw-features/ruth-seymour-dead-public-radio-founder/)** > > Seymour made KCRW the beacon for all things smart, important, and rigorous. She was instrumental in the success of NPR’s Morning Edition and This American Life. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kcrw-founder-ruth-seymour-died-on-friday-dec-22-2023-at-the-age-of-88/995025/2 "2023-12-23T07:22:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kcrw-founder-ruth-seymour-died-on-friday-dec-22-2023-at-the-age-of-88/995025/3 "2023-12-23T15:03:08Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kcrw-founder-ruth-seymour-died-on-friday-dec-22-2023-at-the-age-of-88/995025/4 "2023-12-23T15:09:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kcrw-founder-ruth-seymour-died-on-friday-dec-22-2023-at-the-age-of-88/995025/5 "2023-12-25T02:28:55Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kcrw-founder-ruth-seymour-died-on-friday-dec-22-2023-at-the-age-of-88/995025/6 "2023-12-25T05:53:18Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I found myself listening more and more over the years to KPCC (LAist now) 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. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kcrw-founder-ruth-seymour-died-on-friday-dec-22-2023-at-the-age-of-88/995025/7 "2023-12-25T20:52:49Z")
Yeah, and it’s confusing as heck!