B

My first job at KCRW was Ruth Seymour's assistant. Soon after, I became Assistant General Manager and worked closely with her for 16 years. Therefore, I have had the opportunity to observe her and the enormous impact she had on KCRW and the other radio stations.

Ruth did nothing conventionally and nothing she created was a reaction to anything. She created KCRW not to gain the most listeners or to win any awards but to be an intellectual force for arts, culture and smart ideas. She wanted to start the conversation, not just contribute to it. 

Ruth had the highest artistic standards, which is why KCRW aired radio dramas like the 10-hour Babbitt and 30-hour Ulysses. She created Jewish Short Stories From Eastern Europe and Beyond in two audio collections that featured famous actors reading the work of Jewish authors like Sholem Aleichem, Philip Roth and Isaac Bashevis Singer. KCRW sold more of those collections than anything else in our history. 

Ruth went to a newsstand every day and read articles from New York Times word for word, on the air at noon because ordinary people couldn't easily get that paper then. She discovered people who matched her intellect at dinners or parties and gave them on-air shows on journalism, literature, film, art, theater, travel, dance or music.

She said it best, "I wanted to do the program as an act of love and respect."

When she came to KCRW in 1977, she found herself building the station in a junior high classroom right off the playground. Now KCRW could be heard across Los Angeles. Most powerfully, the radio format(总体安排) she created continues to be used by radio stations—news of the day, debates of ideas, art, artists, food, literature and film. 

Outspoken and fearless women leaders were rare in the 1960s and 1970s—in fact, women couldn't get credit cards apart from their husbands until 1974—which is why her achievements are so singular.