MARY ANN MCGUIRE
September 30, 2000
Dear Mr. Trout,
I am a native Californian, born and raised in Los Angeles. I was always one of those kids who enjoyed any artistic or performing possibilities. My parents thought of those things as "frills" which would really handicap anyone who held on to them past adolescence. So I learned to sublimate. I tried to think of other things to do (work in an office or a store) but every time I tried it, I was encouraged to seek employment elsewhere.
My first attempt at college I didn't finish because I couldn't imagine what to major in (the art department was not admitting anyone) and although I was involved in music, I had this idea that things that gave me intense pleasure should not be pursued in an academic setting because that could kill the passion or pervert it into something dry and meaningless.
So I dropped out of college, played music for a few years, married, reproduced - the usual kind of thing.
When my children were school age I also went back to school and ended up with a Master's Degree in French Literature. Ironically, I ended up as an adjunct - or migrant - French teacher, working for the past eight years at Cal State ________ and local community colleges.
But the creative part of what I do is limited, and it is getting stale; actually, to put it more precisely, I am getting stale. And that sucks (as my students would say). So I took an oral interpretation class, an acting class and a voice over workshop and had a lot of fun and also got a lot of positive feedback.
And this itchy eagerness I have to do something professionally with my voice is a constant now. I think it has to do with the incredible ways in which the right voice, saying the right things with the right delivery can effectively communicate just about anything. Voices can be so seductive, authoritative, persuasive or passionate, giving subtle nuances and delicate overtones to whatever the message is. It's the same way that a musician can interpret a piece to suggest so much about the range of images and emotion that music can convey.
When used by an intelligent, sensitive, articulate person, a voice can do something positive to affect the world we live in. The whole process is mysterious and powerful and intrigues me to no end.
So here I am, a mature (!), eager, bright and goodness knows, used to working hard (those who work more than one job know the truth of this), and I love to have fun. I am really looking forward to learning the ins and outs of what is involved in working in radio.
Sincerely,
Mary Ann McGuire
