ection>
Acknowledgements
Melanie Flint for her assistance and professionalism helping me at the beginning of this new journey.
Michael Olson, KSCO General Manager and very good friend, who took much time to inspire and guide me through the long process. Without Michael, this book probably would not have been born.
My good friend and transcriber Marcia Miller for the countless copies of commentaries (at least four drafts of each one) until it was just right. We also often shared humorous and angry allusions which concurrently we would agree upon regarding the human condition.
Also, our very talented engineer Bill Graff, who records my many commentaries and patiently removes all my extra allergy breaths, and more importantly, makes sure we stay on the air loud and clear.
And finally, Carol Stafford, our very efficient station manager, who patiently edited all of this book, and who makes KSCO run so smoothly.
To all of you, my deepest appreciation. Thank you.
— KZ
Editors Note:
What you are about to read is a compilation of commentaries broadcast by Kay Zwerling in the period of 1999 through 2009. Kay Zwerling along with her son and CEO Michael Zwerling, own two radio stations broadcasting from Santa Cruz, California. KSCO AM 1080 has a 10,000 watt signal that is heard over one-third of the State of California during the daytime. The station has a 63-year history, having first come on the airways as KSCO in 1947. Since that time, there have been three owners. Kay, her husband, and son Michael bought KSCO in 1991, and it remains to this day one of the few independently owned and operated radio stations in the United States.
Because Kay wrote these commentaries over a ten-year period with no intention of compiling a book, there were some challenges for the editor. Original air dates were often difficult to establish with certainty. Also, over time, some final draft copies in digital form have been lost due to computer demises over the years. The original air dates of these commentaries were typically broadcast the following entire week. Kay broadcast more than 500 commentaries between 1999 and 2009.
We have done our best to include every original commentary up until the end of 2009. As Kay continues to write and broadcast this book has been a living document from the beginning. So, if you wish to know her latest thoughts on anything from the State budget to the situation in the Middle East, you will have to tune into KSCO and hear it for yourself.
We hope that this book is as enjoyable to read as it was to work on over the past year with Kay.
— Melanie Flint
Preface
Never in my wildest thoughts did I ever contemplate writing a book.
In January 31, 1991, my husband and I helped MZ buy KSCO – and I started following him around the station learning about the radio business.
For several months, I would complain about our ultraliberal City Council, and also about our County Board of Supervisors taking too much money for themselves when they met probably twice a month or so, and started giving themselves more money than they deserved – and finally MZ said “Mom, why don’t you ventilate on the air – you have a free microphone.”
I took his advice, and to my wonderful surprise, I began to receive many personal emails from listeners who were equally angry with our local government and totally agreed with me.
That did it.
I started writing and broadcasting weekly commentaries – many political, sometimes jokes, and other current interesting topics.
Many listeners started sending me materials they thought were especially interesting, and I used some of them – always giving credit to the person who sent it.
Now we are about to write a book with many of these commentaries – so any acknowledgments must be accurate.
When I wrote about Ben Stein and some other famous persons, of course, I gathered the information from their biographies.
If I accidentally used material from another writer not acknowledged, please forgive me. I believe that if it were the case, any one of our very bright listeners would have called it to my attention, but that never happened.
I hope you enjoy my book.
— Kay Zwerling
Introduction
While well into my eighth decade of life, I find myself pleasantly surprised for numerous reasons.
I never expected to be blessed with such a long life, and the notion that I could write enough material that might justify or warrant a respectable book feels delightful.
At this point in my existence, I do honestly believe that every day is a gift. Whoever thought my first boyfriend at age fifteen would turn out to be the one and only love of my life? And it was mutual.
He was a college graduate from New York University when we met. He didn’t know how young I was, and I was awed by his knowledge and his delightful sense of humor. We were married for 58 years, and he was my boyfriend for four years before that. We did bicker occasionally, but he passed away ten years ago, and I miss him every day.
We were blessed with three wonderful children - then seven grandchildren. I became a grandmother at age 45, and now I also have seven great-grandchildren.
My husband was a self-employed optometrist for 48 years in Santa Cruz, and we were able to travel around the world and see so much while my mom stayed with the children.
A child of the Great Depression, I was able to go back to school at age 42 and get a Bachelors of Arts at University of California, Santa Cruz, and then a Masters Degree at San Jose State University.
When we helped Michael, our youngest son, to buy KSCO Radio, life took on another interesting dimension. I used to follow Michael, the CEO, around the station and complain about local politics constantly, so finally he suggested that I say it on the air. And I’ve been doing just that for over a decade now.
It has been a delightful, adventurous ride, and I have now recorded more than 500 commentaries. In addition to the joy of producing them, these commentaries have brought me something that I never expected – fans! I’ve been thrilled to find that so many listeners agree with my views. So I decided to collect some of my favorite commentaries together for them. The result is this book. I hope you enjoy it.
Part One: Santa Cruz, California
1
It all started about 40 years ago in our pristine, incredibly beautiful, and peaceful Santa Cruz, population about 15,000. While many rejoiced when the regents of the University of California chose Santa Cruz for their new campus, I felt uneasy, sensing that this quiet little piece of heaven would never again be the same, and that the changes would not be for the better.
Despite my opportunity to enter the new campus as a re-entry student, the political environment I encountered confirmed my fears that in some ways UCSC would prove to be our deterioration – or even our nemesis.
The U.C. plan was to make the Santa Cruz campus a cluster of small colleges patterned after Oxford in England, where the free exchange of ideas between faculty and students would encourage inquiring young minds to flourish. The small colleges did become a reality, but the young minds were not allowed to flourish, at least not in the political sciences department. Conservative students taking part in KSCO programming confirmed that fact. They felt stifled, intimidated, and ostracized. Some professors in the political sciences called themselves the New Left and made sure that their students understood the Marxist philosophy, and they did not – I repeat, did not – encourage dialog from students with differing points of view. One Professor, Michael Rotkin, decided to run for City Council and make Santa Cruz a model for his doctoral dissertation,