Kay Zwerling, 1921-2017: KSCO’s Signature Voice Never Backed Away From Her Conservative Views

Way back in 2011, the year of Charlie Sheen meltdowns and Occupy protests, the Donald Trump for President bandwagon was, to engage in severe understatement, sparsely populated — no more so than in the blue-state citadel of Santa Cruz County.

But there was at least one voice on board. In a move that now looks downright visionary, Kay Zwerling pronounced from her perch at KSCO (1080 AM) that Trump was what the country needed in the White House.

It’s a sad irony that Zwerling never got to see Trump inaugurated. The long-time signature voice of KSCO — known for her plainspoken conservative weekly commentaries — died a couple of weeks before the inauguration, at the age of 95. She had disappeared from the hurly-burly of political commentary more than three years ago because of declining health. In fact, said her son Michael Zwerling, KSCO’s Santa Cruz-based owner, memory loss had robbed her of the satisfaction of fully understanding Trump’s election.

But by the time she had stepped away from her weekly broadcasts, Kay Zwerling had already built a considerable legacy in local media as a champion of a minority viewpoint in Santa Cruz. Those who disliked her political attitudes did so intensely. But those who liked her commentaries loved her.

“There was no better advocate for KSCO than my mom,” said Michael Zwerling. “Everywhere she went, she was always asking people, ‘Do you listen to the radio?’ And they would go, ‘Hey, I know that voice. You’re Kay!’”

In 2010, she even published a collection of her commentaries, borrowing its title from her regular sign-off “For KSCO, I’m Kay Zwerling.” She was never coy about her views. Her ferocious and unapologetic conservative viewpoint was the source of her popularity. “Oh, she was conservative, sure,” said Michael Zwerling. “But she would throw people curves too. She did a great commentary once on alcohol versus pot, saying that it makes no sense that pot is illegal when alcohol is a thousand times more ravaging to society.”

“She was very generous,” said long-time KSCO on-air personality Rosemary Chalmers. “Something a lot of people don’t know was that she was quietly very philanthropic.”

Chalmers said that soon after she took the job at KSCO in the early 1990s, Kay Zwerling asked her about her own family. Upon learning that Chalmers’s mother had died many years before, Zwerling responded with, “Not to worry, you have a mom now.”

“It surprised me, to be honest with you,” said Chalmers. “It was very heartful too.”

Like many actual mothers and daughters, the relationship between the two women was often contentious, but, said Chalmers, undergired with a genuine attachment.

Advertisement In public, Kay Zwerling was often the object of considerable hostility. A cartoon depiction of her wearing a Nazi swastika was particularly offensive to her, given her Sephardic Jewish heritage. In fact, it was a stout Zionism and defense of the state of Israel that was at the core of her political conservatism, and informed much of her belief system.

The Trump commentary from 2011 is part of one of the most infamous episodes in KSCO’s history. Its broadcast coincided with an in-studio guest appearance from Ray Taliaferro, a veteran liberal talk-show host from KGO in San Francisco. Taliaferro was well known for his operatic theatricality and the Trump commentary set him off on an aria of outrage. The resulting “Kay Meets Ray” qualifies as confrontational political radio at its most fiery.

Still, said Rosemary Chalmers, despite pushback, Kay Zwerling never took things too personally. “She would just say, ‘That’s how people are. You don’t have to agree with me. That’s entirely your choice.’ She realized that her belief system wasn’t the only one in the world, but it was a strong belief system, and it was hers.”

Family: Widow of longtime Santa Cruz optometrist Bernard Zwerling. Three children include Louis, Regina and Michael, the latter of which is the owner/operator of KSCO (1080 AM) in Santa Cruz

Pre-radio: Bernard and Kay Zwerling moved to Santa Cruz in 1947, by coincidence it was the same weekend that KSCO first went on the air. She was a stay-at-home mom until age 45, when, after her children were reared, she returned to school, eventually getting a master’s degree from UC Santa Cruz in Spanish literature.

The voice of KSCO: She and her husband helped her son Michael purchase KSCO in 1991 but it wasn’t until Bernard’s death in 1998 that she began recording written commentaries. Most were political in nature, but some were more personal. “Kay’s Commentaries” were recorded once a week and broadcast several times over the course of the week, earning her both fans and critics. In 2010, she published a collection of her commentaries called “For KSCO, I’m Kay Zwerling.”

Kay Days: For the last 18 months, KSCO’s Rosemary Chalmers had been engaged in weekly “Kay Days,” visiting with the Zwerling matriarch every Thursday. “She was always thrilled to bits to see me,” said Chalmers. The two women would go to lunch at the same table at the same restaurant (Firefish Grill on the Santa Cruz Wharf) and then go to Marianne’s for ice cream. “She told me (toward the end of her life) that she had no regrets, that she had a wonderful life and had everything to be grateful for.”

Memorial event: A celebration of the life of Kay Zwerling will take place March 18 from noon to 4 p.m. at KSCO’s studios, 2300 Portola Drive, Santa Cruz. The public is welcome. Details: ksco.com.

Her broadcasts were rarely long, but she was one of my favorites.

I felt really sorry when she died 2 or so months back.

They have a fantastic station, there.

I never considered myself as the “anti big corporate” type, but I guess now that is so, at least for me, now.

She was one of my favorites on KSCO —not just cuz she was so old but because I strongly agreed with her on so many different topics.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.