Ruth Seymour
Seymour in her early days at KCRW
Born
Ruth Epstein

(1935-02-17)February 17, 1935
New York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 22, 2023(2023-12-22) (aged 88)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Other namesRuth Hirschman
Alma materCity College of New York
OccupationRadio executive
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1954; div. 1973)​
Children2

Ruth Seymour (née Epstein; February 17, 1935 – December 22, 2023)[1] was an 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

Ruth Epstein was born at Sydenham Hospital in Harlem, New York City.[1] A secular Jew,[5][4] she grew up across the street from the Bronx Zoo, along with her younger sister.[6] Her parents were both Polish immigrants;[1] her mother was a garment worker, while her father worked as a furrier.[6] The couple had met while attending The New School for Social Research in New York City.[1]

Epstein's parents were involved in Yiddish-speaking society, and were active in the Workmen's Circle.[1] They sent Epstein to Sholem Aleichem Folk School[7] to learn Yiddish literature and language as a supplement to her public schooling.[8] During her years at City College of New York[9] she studied Yiddish and Hebrew with Jewish linguist Max Weinreich.[1][4]

Career

Seymour's first venture into radio came at KPFK in Los Angeles from 1961 to 1964.[10] She had moved to the city with her husband in 1961.[6] As that station's drama and literary critic, she produced award-winning series.[5] From 1971 to 1976,[10] she worked as program director there, and she did freelance work for the Pacifica Foundation while traveling in Europe.[5] She was fired in 1976, after the FBI raided the station in search of a tape KPFK had aired from Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army, which the station manager refused to turn over.[6][11] Seymour broadcast the raid live, as it occurred.[11]

Seymour joined the staff of KCRW at Santa Monica College in 1977 as a consultant and was named manager a few months later, in 1978.[12] She retired from there in February 2010[13] after having helped the station "transcend its basement location to shape the culture in Los Angeles".[14] 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.[13]

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.[5]

Seymour also brought other programs to KCRW, such as Le Show (hosted by Harry Shearer), Left, Right & Center, Morning Becomes Eclectic, The Politics of Culture, To the Point, and Which Way L.A.? (hosted by Warren Olney).[6] In 1996, KCRW became the first station other than Chicago's WBEZ to air This American Life,[6] and she pushed host Ira Glass to rename the show from its original name, Your Radio Playhouse.[1] She also supported programs that brought literature to the radio, including airing radio dramas adaptations of Babbitt and Ulysses.[12] She also created two popular volumes of the audio collection Jewish Short Stories from Eastern Europe and Beyond, in which well-known actors read works by Jewish authors.[12]

Seymour spearheaded fundraising efforts not only for KCRW, including a $1 million pledge drive in 1995,[5] but also for the network program Weekend All Things Considered in 1985 and for NPR in 1991.[15] 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.[16]

In 2008, Seymour successfully lobbied for a municipal bond issue that would allow KCRW to build its own building.[6]

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 Fools, 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] with Seymour hosting until 2007.[6]

Personal life and death

Seymour married the poet Jack Hirschman in 1954, after meeting him at the City College of New York, and divorced him in 1973.[1][17] They had two children.[6] The family traveled often, due to Hirschman's job as a professor at Dartmouth and UCLA.[1] Her son, David, died of lymphoma in 1982, at age 25.[1] Her daughter Celia Hirschman is a music business consultant and is the host of the "On the Beat" program on KCRW.[18][19]

In 1993, she changed her surname to Seymour to honor her paternal grandfather, who had been a rabbi.[9][17]

Seymour died at home in Santa Monica, California, on December 22, 2023, at age 88.[6]

Recognition

In 1997, she received Amnesty International's Media Spotlight Award.[11]

In 1999, the Workmen's Circle gave Seymour its Yiddishkayt Award for her "service to Yiddish language and culture."[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pearce, Matt (December 22, 2023). "Ruth Seymour, tastemaker who made KCRW a public radio powerhouse, dies at 88". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  2. ↑ "(untitled continuation)". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. May 27, 2001. p. Calendar 9. Retrieved March 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Janssen, Mike (November 14, 2017). "'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 March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Rosen, Lisa (December 19, 2003). "A mitzvah in its 25th year". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. p. E 58. Retrieved March 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Seymour: Shaped Influential NPR Station". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. May 21, 1995. p. A 36. Retrieved March 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Barnes, Mike (December 22, 2023). "Ruth Seymour, KCRW's Innovative Leader for Three Decades, Dies at 88". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  7. ↑ Tugend, Tom (May 11, 2010). "KCRW's Ruth Seymour Offers Rich Legacy to Jewish Community". Jewish Journal. L.A. Woman. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Arieff, Diane (March 11, 1999). "An Empress of the Air". Jewish Journal. Archived from the original on March 3, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  9. 1 2 Meyer, Richard E. (February 1, 2010). "Sound Off". Los Angeles Magazine. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  10. 1 2 Smith, David (June 2, 1982). "Little David of the FM Dial". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. p. VI-1. Retrieved March 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 3 Saperstein, Pat (December 22, 2023). "Ruth Seymour, Former KCRW General Manager and Public Radio Pioneer, Dies at 88". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 Tapp, Tom (December 22, 2023). "Ruth Seymour Dies: Groundbreaking Longtime KCRW General Manager Was 88". Deadline. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  13. 1 2 Roderick, Kevin. "Ruth Seymour retiring from KCRW". LA Observed. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  14. ↑ 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 March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Seymour". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. May 21, 1995. p. A 37. Retrieved March 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Kessler, Michelle (August 16, 2005). "Fighting for the Right to Podcast". Pensacola News Journal. Florida, Pensacola. USA Today. p. 25. Retrieved March 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 Russell, Ron (May 21, 1995). "COLUMN ONE : KCRW's Fiery Radio Warrior : Charismatic and controversial, Ruth Seymour made once-sleepy station a public broadcasting powerhouse". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 16, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Celia Hirschman, Host of On the Beat". Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Celia Hirschman". Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
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