Tribute from Caryn G. Mathes

SUBMITTED BY: Caryn G. Mathes

RELATIONSHIP TO ED: General Manager of KUOW for 21 years, worked with Ed and did on-air fundraising with him many an evening!

There were so many memorable encounters with Ed, but one story speaks to how he never stops growing as a Jazz scholar and presenter. Two words for you: “Jazz Bagpipes”. Yep – You read that correctly; Ed’s desire to always give his audience comprehensive exposure to all that the Jazz genre has to offer, led him to feature FOR DAYS ON END the instrumentation of a Jazz bagpipe player (Rufus Harley maybe?). And he continued to feature this novel presentation (wait for it…) DURING AN ON-AIR FUNDRAISER! You can imagine the “lightning rod” that Jazz bagpipe was, and as his fundraising “pitch partner” I was personally terrified of the alienation of listeners that might occur while we were asking them for money. But you know, Ed is all about exposure of artists and the music to its farthest reaches. I watched in awe as he coaxed his audience to “just give this a listen and let me know what you think! Ring (phone #) 0808 if you’re diggin’ it and want to hear more and 0809 if this isn’t for you. BUT MAKE A PLEDGE OF SUPPORT WHILE YOU’RE RINGING THAT PHONE!” He was masterful, and the calls — and pledges — came rolling in. What a treasure you are, Ed Love. It is my supreme honor to have worked with you and to call you a friend.