Ruth Seymour

Ruth Seymour (born Ruth Epstein)[1] is a retired American broadcasting executive known for her innovative work with public radio.[2] She has been described as a pioneer in public radio[3] and "a commanding presence in the public radio arena."[4]

Early years

A secular Jew,[4] Seymour grew up in the Bronx, attending Sholem Aleichem Folk School[5] to learn Yiddish literature and language as a supplement to her public schooling.[6] During her years at City College of New York[7] she studied Yiddish with Jewish linguist Max Weinreich.[4]

Career

Seymour's first venture into radio came at KPFK in Los Angeles from 1961 to 1964.[8] As that station's drama and literary critic, she produced award-winning series.[1] From 1971 to 1976,[8] she worked as program director there, and she did freelance work for the Pacifica Foundation while traveling in Europe.[1]

Seymour joined the staff of KCRW at Santa Monica College in 1977 as a consultant and was named manager a few months later. She retired from there in February 2009[9] after having helped the station "transcend its basement location to shape the culture in Los Angeles."[10] During her tenure, the station grew from being based in a playground at a middle school and having an old transmitter to covering much of southern California with its broadcasts. It also developed streaming services and podcasts.[9]

In 1979, two factors combined to enhance Seymour's efforts toward advancing KCRW's status. Soon after the station began using a new transmitter, National Public Radio launched Morning Edition. While the area's then-most-significant public radio station ran the two-hour program before 6 a.m., Seymour decided to run it three times each morning from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. on KCRW. "That way nobody was going to have [the programs] when I didn't have them," she said.[1]

Seymour spearheaded fundraising efforts for not only KCRW, including a $1 million pledge drive in 1995,[1] but also for the network program Weekend All Things Considered in 1985 and for NPR in 1991.[11] She also was active in the effort to simplify podcasting of radio stations' programs. Without blanket licensing agreements, such as those that apply to over-the-air broadcasts and streaming of programs, a separate contract with each record label used in the podcast was required.[12]

Hanukkah broadcast

In 1979, Seymour launched a program on KCRW that became a tradition, going strong a quarter-century later. Noting the lack of radio programming related to Hanukkah, she created and hosted Philosophers, Fiddlers and Folks, a program that included recordings of Yiddish folk music and songs from Yiddish music halls, a short story by a Yiddish author, and a memorial to the Holocaust. Initially surprised and disappointed because only two people called the station during the broadcast, Seymour thought that it was a failure — until it ended. Then calls kept the staff and their telephones busy for three hours. Thereafter, the show was broadcast annually.[4]

Personal life

Seymour married—and divorced -- Jack Hirschman. They had two children. After the divorce, she changed her surname to Seymour to honor her paternal grandfather, who had been a rabbi.[7]

Recognition

In 1999, the Workmen’s Circle gave Seymour its Yiddishkayt Award for her “service to Yiddish language and culture.”[6]

gollark: This seems quite bad, hmm.
gollark: oh, and some triangles try and stop people doing bad things to themselves, which never works.
gollark: Generally people will agree that people need to be stopped from doing stuff which is harmful to other people, *but* don't really agree on how that's defined.
gollark: I mean, to some extent, but people have to interact with each other a bit.
gollark: WASM currently requires JS glue code to interact with DOM APIs, although maybe they'll make some standard for that and implement it directly.

References
  1. "Seymour: Shaped Influential NPR Station". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. May 21, 1995. p. A 36. Retrieved 2 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "(untitled continuation)". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. May 27, 2001. p. Calendar 9. Retrieved 2 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Janssen, Mike. "'Made Possible By…' #2: Ruth Seymour on KCRW's days as a scrappy innovator". Curreng. School of Communication, American University. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  4. Rosen, Lisa (December 19, 2003). "A mitzvah in its 25th year". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. p. E 58. Retrieved 2 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Tugend, Tom (May 11, 2010). "KCRW's Ruth Seymour Offers Rich Legacy to Jewish Community". Jewish Journal. L.A. Woman. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  6. Arieff, Diane (March 11, 1999). "An Empress of the Air". Jewish Journal. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  7. Meyer, Richard E. (February 1, 2010). "Sound Off". Los Angeles Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  8. Smith, David (June 2, 1982). "Little David of the FM Dial". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. p. VI-1. Retrieved 3 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Roderick, Kevin. "Ruth Seymour retiring from KCRW". LA Observed. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  10. Raymond, Anthea (March 21, 2010). "A Station Says Goodbye to Its Long-Time General Manager, Ruth Seymour". Huffpost. Verizon Media. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  11. "Seymour". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. May 21, 1995. p. A 37. Retrieved 3 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Kessler, Michelle (August 16, 2005). "Fighting for the Right to Podcast". Pensacola News Journal. Florida, Pensacola. USA Today. p. 25. Retrieved 2 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.