A Not So Brief Show History
From 1990 to the present, The Laura Lee Show: Conversation for Exploration has been about expanding the circle, by having those conversations on the air that Laura Lee was having amongst her circle of friends – conversations that weren’t being heard on mainstream airwaves. Here, Laura Lee tells the story of the show’s history:

People often ask, how did you get started? And I have to say, that’s a question that always brings out an interesting story, and one I always ask our guests. It’s fun to see what prompts and leads people to where they end up. So I’ll tell you my story. It was, like many career paths, a chance beginning. But it was one that felt like destiny, and, interestingly, it was the result of a good deed.

The good deed I was doing was to help an out-of-town friend book some interviews on Seattle radio stations and bookstore lectures for her upcoming visit. It was about developing her intuition. Paul and I had taken her course, and found it profoundly helpful. So I was happy to help spread the word, and booked several media events for her. Just before she was due to arrive, I was calling to confirm all that I had booked for her. I called one of the radio stations, and unexpectedly, the station manager answered the phone. This I didn’t know, when I asked to speak to the producer of the particular show. "Oh, that show has been cancelled," he said. "But I’m looking for a new host. I like the ‘feminine yet intelligent’ sound of your voice. Would you like to come in and interview for the job?" (Rather than be offended by the feminine YET intelligent remark, I just came in and talked it over. I was offered the job. I thanked him, and explained that as my Dad was in radio, I wanted to talk it over with him before accepting.

Mine is a radio family, and I will say it helps to have connections. My dad, Les Smith, owned and managed radio stations for over 40 years. KXL in Portland, KJR and KISW in Seattle, KJRB in Spokane, were the anchors of his conglomerate. He had sold off his stations years ago, but kept KXL in Portland. And KXL was the station where Brian Jennings was the News Director for many years. And my dad explained, Brian was now the Program Director of Seattle’s talk station KING-AM. And I should go talk to Brian before accepting the job at this other station. Just in case Brian wanted to hire me. For a talk show. Even though I had never hosted a show before. KING was Seattle’s leading talk station at the time. Silly me, I didn’t realize what a long shot this was.

So I went to see Brian. We caught up. He hadn’t seen me since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, you know the line. We talked for the better part of an hour. I asked Brian how talk radio worked: who the listeners where. How he knew when a host had that ‘special something.’ What he listened for in a show. How a host best connects with their audience. How the topics were selected and developed. How to turn a news story into a talk segment. And on and on. It was fascinating. Talk radio was a new development in the radio world in 1990. Brian thought I was just paying a social call. So finally he asked me, "well, what can I do for you?"

"I’d like to host a show," I said. He explained that he didn’t have any openings at the moment. "Brian," I continued, "obviously, I don’t have any experience, and am not looking for a day-time drive-time segment. I was thinking of something on the weekend." And then he saw the light. "What kind of show? What would you talk about?" he asked. "I explained the sorts of things that I found myself reading up on, talking about with my friends, but not hearing on the radio. "And there is a big audience for this stuff," I declared. I did luck out – or perhaps it really was destiny prevailing. Brian had gone to England to look for the roots of King Arthur. His girlfriend was into all this stuff. He was intrigued. So he offered me a Saturday Night three-hour slot. But there were two conditions.

"I want you to start next week Saturday," was the first one. "The reason is, the new General Manager they just hired starts two weeks after that, and we can avoid having to get his approval if you are already in the line-up before he gets here." Talk about slipping in just under the wire! The second condition was that I would only have 13 weeks to demonstrate that the show was successful. How do a host do that? You get lots of callers. You get lots of fan mail –of a mostly positive nature. And hopefully, you show up in the ratings books.

My show debuted on February 3rd, 1990. The topic: the Near Death Experience. I had gone to a conference, to discover that the largest group was based in Seattle. I invited the director on as our first guest. This was research dear to my heart. Being whisked through a tunnel to meet angels and your departed relatives, an experience that left you in no doubt that this was real, more real than this reality -- sounded just like a dream that I’d had, one of the childhood experiences -- and the most profound -- that had set me off on this course of inquiry and self-discovery. The phone lines lit up, wouldn’t quit, and we were off and running.

But I always knew it would work. It was just a quiet, solid conviction. I found these topics fascinating, so why shouldn’t everyone else? I also did it my own way. The common coaching a host got was very much a guy thing. I was told that I had to have strong opinions; that I had to do battle with the audience and argue to win, to convince, to compell (read, beat a caller into submission). I did none of it. I couldn’t. That wasn’t me! I just asked good questions, listened intently, and carried on the kind of conversation that I would have at a dinner party, with the stranger across the table who has been doing something unique, unusual, intriguing, and that I wanted to hear more of. And that was were I differed from the other hosts, who didn’t have guests very often. I was very guest oriented, and my secret was in good guest selection. And, I did my homework. Not with the front pages of the newspaper, as the other hosts did. I read books, obscure journals, talked to people, went to conferences – all the stuff I was doing anyway.

I did such diligent ‘homework’ that Brian offered me a chance at mainstream news. He was surprised when I refused it. So was my Dad, but I had to tell them that I wasn’t interested in being Barbara Walters. I was in radio in order to explore, to further my personal understanding, to have the time and space to do personal research because it was my job. And the research I had to do, wasn’t happening on the front pages of the newspaper. It was on the leading edge of other frontiers, the ones that addressed those age-old questions, ‘Who are we? Where are going? Where did we come from? How do we live to best of our abilities, and make the most of our brief time here?"

When my first Abitrons came in, it showed my weekend show had earned a 7 Share. This was great – a 3 and 4 share was considered very good. The show before mine had zero ratings, and here my time slot showed this wonderful spike throughout the three hours, before dipping back down. I was hooked. Especially when my second book came out, showing a 14 Share for my show. I’ve been at it every since.

Their travels now bring them what they value most -- meeting up with more new acquaintances, more events and conferences, more new learning opportunities, and more adventure. Life is sweet!
 -- Laura Lee
copyright 2003