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The April 1971 Atlantic Edition of TV Radio Mirror featured KQV's Carolyn Smith. That article appears here. |
Carolyn Smith, the talented co-host of KQV-Radio's Counterpoint and host
WDVE-FM's Carolyn Smith Show, has changed a bit from the gullible tomboy
(so she claims) that she was a decade or so ago. Between then and now,
she jas picked up two college degrees - a B.A. in philosophy from George
Washington University and an M.A. in political rhetoric from the university
of Pittsburgh, where, under a fellowship, she is currently working toward
a Ph.D. Also, via these radio shows, she has become a very controversial
figure.
"I suppose I had the kind of childhood best represented by the term 'Middle America'," relates the young radio celebrity. "An only child, I was spoiled. I was also a tomboy who collected every variety of animal possible. I remember once having a praying mantis cocoon in our basement. One morning my mother discovered thousands of baby mantises crawling all over the room," she laughs. Carolyn had a parakeet too, and nver cleaned out the cage. "My mother cleaned it out once while I was away and the bird flew away. She called my father, who sent his scretary to get another green parakeet to replaced the misplaces one. Well," she continues, "the new bird was a much lighter green, and when I returned, the bird looked different. My parents convinced me that the bird had just faded from sitting in the sun." Gullible? Blame it on her youth. The 24-year-old brownette isn't gullible any more. She's learned to probe, prod and pick until the most startling facts are revealed, and if you live in Pittsburgh and are an insomniac, you're probably a fan of hers. Along with Lynn Hinds, Carolyn introduces KQV listeners tom interesting local people on the Sunday show, Counterpoint, heard from midnight to 5 A.M. the phone lines are opened to callers who use it to rap about everybthing, from politics and religion to marijuana and miniskirts. the Carolyn is on her own weekdays from 7 to 11 A.M. on WDVE-FM with the same format. Carolyn, who in stocking feet reaches hieghts of 5'7", is all legs in her mini and it's a shame she's heard and not seen. After conducting mail surveys to discuss what the show's listeners and like, KQV discovered that it's followers are quite unique. "We get college profs and high school teachers, college students, professional people and, most important, ordinary working people who like to think and to talk about what they think with informed people. In brief, our fans lean toward the young professional or soon-to-be-professional types: the opinion leaders of the community." says Carolyn's partner, Lynn Hinds. "It's a great feeling to be able to ask the right questions in order to get the caller to the real basic of what he's talking about." Carolyn adds. "Sometimes he can defend his viewpoint: sometimes he is reduced to logical absurdity. But asking the right questions to get to that point is and art. When it happens, it fulfills one of the functions of a talk-host." Carolyn has always had a way with words, and originally, sh had wanted to be an attorney, following her father into state politics. "However I decided that my personality was not suited to that particular kind of public life. I would rather analyze issues than persuade people to adopt a particular point of view because I say so. I decided that in order to contribute someting significant to broadcast journalism, I need more than just an education in techniques. that is why i decided to pursue political rhetoric. This way, if broadcasting doesn't work for me, I'll always have something to fall back on." Broadcasting best reflects the combination of all her interests. Her interest in speech dates back to participation in 4-H speech contests when she was a little girl growing up in Portland, Indiana. "I was a debater in college and was excited about analysis of contemporary isses, and I became very aware that many people did not understand that there are many legitimate sides to any issue." In Portland, she grew up in the middle of Indiana farm country - climbing trees, collecting guinea hens, owning a skunk and raccoon during her college days. "I used to attach a rope to my raccoon's collar and let him go swimming in the reflecting pool at the Washington Momunent," she recalls. Someday, the talkmaster would love to own a pairl of kaola bears and a set of Doberman pinschers. "Living alone in her bachelorette flat in Oakland, she spendsmuch of her leisure time reading Agatha Christie mysteries and knitting once in a while. "I am really not very imaginative with spare time because I waste so much of it. During the winter, I have to travel all over the country with the debate teams so most of my weekends are not free. I cannot complain, though: I am afraid that I would be very easily bored without a lot of activity going on," Carolyn admits. She enjoys her fame and loves it when people recognize her on the streets. The desire for privacy and anonymity has not come over her yet. Cited for being so smiliar, personalitywise on and off the air, by Edward Blank, TV-radio writer for the Pittsburgh press, Carolyn observes that most people are surprised at her never changing personality. She finds that she is more tolerant and enjoys people more than she would have thought possible a few years ago. Her won idea of happiness is either peace of mind or aiming toward goals that are attainable only in the future. "Unfortunately, if one thinks about these two concepts of happiness," she says' "one discovers they are probably contradictory. I have no solution, except, I can be happy catching snatches of peace of mind, while pursuing goals. Whether Carolyn is discussing the generation gap, politics, ecology or education crises in the Pittsburgh school system, she's a lovely picture of a miniskirted young woman expounding her famous rhetoric. But, most appealingly, every now and then a bit of the tomboy of yesterday slips out. |
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about the educational crises facing the Pittsburgh schools. |
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she types a paper for a course she's studying for her doctorate degree. |
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This feline, Circe, is as enchanting as her sorceress namesake. |