Joyce Lamont
Joyce
Lamont was a true pioneer in radio broadcasting as the first woman
on the air at WCCO radio in Minneapolis.
She was born in North Dakota, the daughter of
a doctor. Her family moved to Duluth when she was a teenager, and
she graduated from Denfeld in 1934.
She went on to attend Duluth Junior College and
then moved to Minneapolis, where she received a degree in English
and journalism from the University of Minnesota.
She began her radio career as a script and ad writer
for WCCO in 1950, but one day she was asked to read a couple of
lines for a promotion and her voice was perfect for radio. Out of
25 regular on-air personalities in the 1960s she was the only female.
At first she was a not allowed to give her name, but her popularity
grew and that led to her getting a regular show called the Morning
Program and later Dayton’s Musical Chimes.
She was billed as the “Good Neighbor to the Northwest.”
Her show consisted of news, music, recipes, community events and
travel notes. She became such a beloved personality that requests
for the recipes, which were sent out in packets, reached as high
as 10,000 per month. She was heard by millions of listeners throughout
the Midwest and became a role model for women in the industry.
Lamont stayed at WCCO until 1989 and then moved
to KLBB Minneapolis/St. Paul. In 2008 she published a book: Joyce
Lamont’s Favorite Minnesota Recipes and Radio Memories.
From thousands of recipes, 300 were selected, which she described
as “nourishing recipes that can be made quickly and easily.”
The book also contained personal anecdotes and stories from her
experiences on radio.
She was a charter inductee into the Museum of
Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2001.
Hall
of Fame Members
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