If you were a listener to KMET (now KTWV, 94.7 FM) throughout the station's increase to dominance in the 1970s, you keep in mind "The Burner" Mary Turner, one of the early female pioneers of progressive and album rock radio. On the KMET airwaves from 1972 to 1982, she in numerous methods represented exactly what KMET was to its listeners: intelligent, human and enthusiastic.
Turner passed away on May 9. The news was announced by Turner's KMET coworker Ace Young, who published the news and a tribute on social media.
Speaking to LARadio.Com's Don Barrett years ago regarding her profession and the early days of progressive rock radio, Turner showed on the times. FM at that time was a joke, specifically to Top 40 individuals.
Did the truth that she was a woman in an industry controlled, particularly at that time, by males? Turner informed Barrett, "I believe being a woman assisted more than anything else. The time was best for it, and I happened to be in the best place at the correct time."
Just a short time after her arrival at KMET, the station worked with a female program director, Sam Bellamy, who also spoke to Barrett, saying "When I reached KMET in 1974, Mary was already there paving the way for women in radio. We ended up being good friends and partners in criminal activity, based a lot on our shared funny bone and extreme desire to succeed.
" I found out extremely quickly that Mary would set the bar high for aspiring air characters and radio executives alike, specifically in the extremely competitive L.A. market. Before Oprah and others began preaching it, Mary was living the purpose-driven life. Back in the early '70s, Mary had set objectives for herself and she kept building on, and grabbing, those objectives – – constantly conscious of inspiring and mentor others along the method."
She produced short interview and music information sectors for KMET that progressed into nationally syndicated special programs cancelled the Record; these specials reached an estimated 25 million listeners and are extremely respected to this day. She was amongst the very first to ever interview a young Bruce Springsteen for her regular evening air shift.
After leaving KMET, she continued with Off the Record, did an everyday program for Armed Forces Radio, did a stint for a Canadian broadcast group, and even dealt with "Music in the Air," a home entertainment service utilized on the now defunct TWA Airlines. She went back to the local airwaves on KLSX (now KNX-FM, 97.1) for a time in 1993.
More just recently she was the chairwoman of the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower Hospital in Rancho Mirage ... the first chair to not be a member of the Ford family because the Center's creation. Her competence in this area came from her own life and determination to overcome her problems-- in the early 1990s, she fought back a substance abuse issue, went on to become a UCLA-certified drug and alcohol counselor, and after that earned a Ph.D. in medical psychology.
Turner is preceded in death by her partner Norm Pattiz, who she met through her radio programs. Pattiz, creator and previous chairman of Westwood One radio networks, passed away simply this past December.
As if to prove the significance of Turner and her profession, The Paley Center for Media in
New York City consists of in its collection recordings of her last show on KMET, dated August 6, 1982. The collection likewise consists of a part of Jim Ladd's program that followed immediately after, which on this night ended up being a tribute show to Turner's profession.
Hear Turner's interview with Springsteen from July 4th of 1978 at bit.ly/ TurnerSpringsteen. Discover other airchecks by searching YouTube and others for Mary Turner KMET.
The passing of Turner affected numerous. As Ace Young stated in his Facebook post, it struck him "like a ton of bricks
"Mary & & I worked together for numerous years at KMET," Young wrote. Mary was the best. Much can be said of her profession; her success; her life with partner, and recently passed, Norm Pattiz.
"I am grief-stricken!" he concludes.
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance writer covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com.
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