EYE ON THE MEDIA with David R. Guarino
WGN TALK RADIO'S FAVORITE 'GIRLFRIEND': CHICAGO'S VERY OWN KATHY O'MALLEY
Question: How easy of a task is it to transition from critically acclaimed gossip columnist to co-host of one of Chicago Talk Radio's most sparkling and popular shows? The answer comes in the form of the Windy City's own Kathy O'Malley, whose fascinating career path has evolved from a position as secretary to the late, great Tribune columnist, Aaron Gold, to co-writer of the now famous Tribune "Inc" column which she penned with Hanke Gratteau and Michael Sneed to her current position as co-host of the very popular morning talk show, The Kathy and Judy Show...The Girlfriends, which airs weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon on WGN Radio 720.
Who would have thought that a radio show which started out as a "one-week experiment" in 1989 with hosts O'Malley and her columnist friend Judy Markey would become Chicago's top-ranked late morning talk show? Certainly not O'Malley, who is still knocking wood wherever she can find it. After a long and very successful career in journalism, O'Malley now spends her mornings in front of a microphone at WGN Talk Radio AM 720, where she and her longtime friend and colleague Markey host the always funny, often provocative, never predictable, Kathy and Judy Show. Known as The Girlfriends, O'Malley and her partner in crime Judy Markey host a call-in show that is great fun and can be amazingly informative and on-the mark. The topics are all over the place, from "Judy's New Dishwasher" or "Making Love Can Be Hazardous To Your Health" to "A Man's Garage Is His Castle," or perhaps "Name the Dead Singer" or even "The Celebrity Checkout Line."
At age 55, O'Malley can reflect on a life that mirrors some wisely executed career choices. The outspoken radio star, who claims she hasn't cooked a balanced meal since 1983, lives a relatively quiet existence on Chicago's North Side and loves working in her large and lovely garden when she's not in the studio.
O'Malley spent her earliest years as an assembler in the automotive industry, among other things. She attended Northern Illinois University but left to start a family. A portent of things to come came in the form of her joining the Chicago Tribune in 1979 as secretary to the late "Tower Ticker" columnist Aaron Gold. She was promoted to reporter in 1983. In 1994, O'Malley became a features writer at the Trib for the Arts, Tempo and Magazine sections. When Gold died in the early 1980s at age 45, O'Malley found herself a contributor to the nationally known "Inc" column, which she would one day pen with co-author Michael Sneed. Kathy left the Tribune in 1995 when her "experimental" radio show was expanded to four hours a day.
O'Malley first appeared on WGN Radio in the mid-'80s when she provided entertainment reports for The Wally Phillips and Roy Leonard Shows. She also hosted a nationally syndicated daily entertainment report called "Campbell Superstars."
A devoted mother of two grown children ( and three grandchildren ) , O'Malley enjoyed the pursuit of juicy celebrity stories and is proud of her many contributions to the Tribune's premier gossip column. But her present post in talk radio seems to fit like a glove and the combination of O'Malley and Markey has struck familiar chords with its advertisers and ever-expending audience. O'Malley has also spent many years as a volunteer for Open Hand Chicago delivering meals to AIDS patients who are housebound. She is also an active volunteer for The National Osteoporosis Foundation.
DAVID GUARINO: How has the advent of the Internet and other high-tech communication devices affected the celebrity, or gossip reporting industry?
KO: When I was first writing, it was before the Internet and so it was easier to do gossip. Gossip held for longer. If you found out a story on Tuesday afternoon, you could cross your fingers and hope that it would still be fresh Wednesday morning. Nowadays, it's on the Internet.
DG: How long were you a columnist?
KO: I did it from 1983 when Aaron ( Gold ) died until 1994. And by then it had gotten to the point where it was almost like I was doing the same stories over and over again, just the names changed. And at that point, I was doing more radio and they ( the Trib ) said that I could move to Tempo, that if I wanted to write some feature stories, I could and not take pay cut. So I jumped at it.
DG: Do you think Michael Sneed does a good job [ at the Sun-Times ] ?
KO: No, I cannot be objective about Michael Sneed. Because Michael was hugely dishonest about her departure. She was my partner at the time, and left without saying anything to me. And she knew that I could hold a confidence, God knows Michael Sneed told me stuff that she wouldn't want other people to know. So she left me just sort of holding the bag as surprised as everybody else. And then, after I had sent her a card and a plant and wished her well, "Good luck, I know this is what you've always wanted, don't look back," her first column out of the box for the Sun-Times was so mean. And she said things like, "Good-bye to taking blame for other people's mistakes, good-bye to column by committee." It was a column that was so awful and so mean and so uncalled for. And so it's hard for me to be objective about Mike Sneed. I think a lot of her stuff is old; off the wires. I'm still embarrassed that I'm angry with Mike, but she really pisses me off, and I don't have anything to do with her.
DG: I know you've done a lot of work with Open Hand.
KO: About nine years ago, when I was still writing "Inc", and having a pretty busy lifestyle, and finally making a really nice salary, and I moved into the city and I had this great house and I had great friends, it just occurred to me that I wasn't giving anything back. And I read about this group that was providing meals for AIDS and HIV+ clients. I have a lot of friends in the gay/lesbian community and I've lost friends ( to AIDS ) , and I just thought that would be a cool thing to get involved because I like to do things where I feel like what I'm doing is making a difference. Not serving on boards and stuffing envelopes, but picking up the food and handing the food to somebody who needs it. And it really seemed to me that that would be a good thing. So I made a commitment and I met Lori Cannon, and got involved and got a route right away; I took a Thursday night route with a real sweet guy named David. And I did it with David for, I think, a half year, and David had an accident. Then I was hooked up with Rick Marzec; Rick and I have been together for eight years. Rick and I just became great buds and we were just sort of woven into the fabric of each other's lives every Thursday. It's real interesting when you work with a group like Open Hand, and especially when you worked with a group like Open Hand before the cocktails. ( HIV drugs ) Because you have clients and you drop off their meals and you come out to the car and you go, "Boy, he doesn't look that good this week," or "She's looking really weak," whatever. And then you'd know when people went into the hospital, and then all of a sudden they'd be off your list. And you'd go, "Aw, shit!" And you were really connected to people who wouldn't be eating if it hadn't been for Open Hand. And Open Hand went through a really tough time because, like a lot of organizations, most organizations like that are started by people who care. And they're started by people who just want to do something because it's the right thing to do. And, unfortunately, those are seldom the people who have the business sense or entrepreneurial sense to handle it as a business. And it is a business. So Open Hand went through a lot of quittings and firings and hirings and re-hirings and everything else. We watched it all, and somehow, they still fed people. Even when everybody ( who was working ) was ticked off at everybody else, Open Hand meals still went out. And God bless Tom Tunney [ of Ann Sather's restaurants ] and all the other people that saw to it that those meals still went out every week. But now it's really a joy because most ( or many of ) Open Hand clients are now grocery clients. And that means that they're well enough to cook their own food, to do their own meals, and rather than having meals cooked and delivered to them, they're going to the grocery centers to get their food. The grocery centers are now a bigger aspect of the business than home deliveries. As far as my other commitment to Open Hand goes, I've emceed a lot of their brunches and I've been involved in the Croquet tournament. I hope I'm around when Open Hand becomes obsolete; that they have nothing more to do.
DG: Do you think tabloid publications like The Globe, The National Enquirer, The Star make a mockery out of what we would consider "journalistic ethics?"
KO: I would put The Star and The Enquirer in a very different column than The Globe. I think Rupert Murdoch owns both of them. ( Star, Enquirer ) And I think that The Enquirer and The Star are right 90 percent of the time. Because everybody is so litigious nowadays, I think that both of those papers are hugely careful about their sources and their stories. Judy and I use them a lot ( in the radio show ) and I think that they are making it very hard for celebrities to b.s. the public. Steve Bertrand our newsman goes crazy. I don't think The Enquirer and The Star are nearly as bad as people make them out to be. The Globe does stories like "Elvis' ghost raised my grandmother," they've really gone to the other side and do some really weird-ass stuff.
DG: What did you do differently than the writers at publications like The Star and The Enquirer?
KO: We weren't as good as they were. We didn't have the sources they did, nor did we have the resources they had. And they kicked our ass most of the time. We were operating out of Chicago and they had bureaus in both LA and New York where it ( the news ) was happening.
DG: Do you prefer working in radio, print or TV?
KO: OK. I hate TV because I have a face that's made for radio. Judy ( Markey ) looks so cute on TV and she doesn't look good in still photographs. If I could walk around looking in real life the way I look in still photographs, I would kill for that. I liked print because you have the benefit of time. You can look at something you've written and the sweet gift of time let's you rearrange it. But I love radio because it's so real. In radio people say what they think before the filter kicks in. Right now, I'm in the right place at the right time. Radio is a place where I can be honest and real and where our listeners can do the same.
DG: What habit of Judy Markey's really gets on your nerves?
KO: ( Kathy laughs ) We all laugh at Judy. Judy's filter is sometimes inoperative. And sometimes Judy will say things on the air that we all assumed would be held in confidence. Judy knows that that's the one thing that she does that makes me crazy. Other than that, it's the healthiest relationship I've ever had.
DG: What celebrity, activist or politician made the greatest impression on you and why?
KO: Wow. I'm hard to impress; I'm very cynical. You know whom I'm impressed by; I'm impressed by Tom Tunney. He is a man who doesn't seek any affirmation for any of the things that he does in many communities. I think he's a decent, good guy, and he makes a hell of a cinnamon roll! ( Kathy laughs ) I'm impressed by that.
DG: Kathy, for who would you give up your garden to interview?
KO: Oh my God I can't think … you know who I'd really like to talk to is Nancy Reagan. You know, I'd like to get her drunk ( we both laugh ) and just get her to open up about Ronnie and First Lady. You know, I really don't like her very much and I'm not sure I'd give up my garden for her. I'd give up my sun garden but not my shade garden.
DG: Tell me what prompted you to co-found The Aaron Gold Scholarship Fund at DePaul University with Gary Sallee.
KO: Because I loved Aaron and he died. And you know, Aaron never graduated from college. Aaron attended Northwestern, and I think that he would have loved to have been able to say, "I'm a graduate." So when Aaron died, those of us who loved him decided that the Theater School ( which had moved to De Paul from Goodman ) that fostered talent; that encouraged creative young people would be a good place to sort of leave Aaron's legacy. I'm sure kids are going to school on the Aaron Gold Scholarship and don't have a clue who he was.
DG: As a mother of two, what is the most important gift a mother can give her children?
KO: Acceptance, I think. Because I think that children who know that they were loved are children who go into the world with more self-confidence.
DG: It has been widely alleged that Aaron Gold died of AIDS in the early '80s and that this was covered up by the management of the Chicago Tribune. It is further alleged that Gold was a closet homosexual. As one of his closest friends, and a woman who not only worked for him but also helped spread his ashes when he passed away, can you set the record straight for us?
KO: You asked whether the Tribune covered up or chose to ignore the fact that Aaron died of AIDS. The answer is no, at least as far as I know, and I was pretty much in the middle of it at the time. When Aaron died, AIDS was still a bit of a mystery to all of us; I can't remember who it was, but someone close to Aaron told me that doctors were having a hard time figuring out what was wrong. Then, some time after he died, I recall reading a Time or a Newsweek story on this new disease and being struck by the thought "Oh my gosh, I wonder if that's what Aaron had." There have been other Tribune staff deaths from confirmed cases of AIDS since then, and I think those have been acknowledged, so I really don't think it was a case of any kind of cover-up.
Was he gay? Yes. Did he die of AIDS? Very likely. But I think the bigger issue is the sad fact that even in the early '80s, a gay man in a high profile position felt he had to pretend he was someone else.
E-mail: DavdRonald@aol.com
