WXPN host Kathy O’Connell and her call-in children’s show “Kids Corner” are ending their run at the station.<\/p>\n
O’Connell announced her retirement Thursday after 38 years on Philly airwaves. She started “Kids Corner,” the Peabody Award-winning series for young listeners, in 1988 and has hosted the program ever since. It will air its final episodes in June.<\/p>\n
MORE:\u00a0<\/b>Want a Philadelphia library card? You now can get one online<\/a><\/p>\n A born-and-bred New Yorker, O’Connell made her first attempt at children’s programming at her hometown public radio station WNYC. Her show “Kids America” was nationally syndicated, including at WXPN. So when “Kids America” was canceled in 1987, the WXPN station manager asked O’Connell to come aboard.\u00a0<\/p>\n With the help of WXPN producer Robert Drake, she developed a series for listeners ages 5-13 that blended music with interactive, educational segments. Kids called into the show to talk about space or animals or simply hear other children’s voices. According to O’Connell, the show’s early audience included several latchkey kids who were stuck at home while their parents worked; one listener, a North Philly<\/a> boy named Desmond, called nightly in the late ’80s because his mother had forbidden him from going outside, fearing gang violence.<\/p>\n “If you’ve ever listened to Kathy O’Connell interview kids for an hour about what costume they’re wearing for Halloween and why, it sounds simple, but she makes it magical,” Drake said in a release<\/a>. “She has this unique thing of being able to talk to eight-year-olds on their own level and gets the sort of wide lens that’s part of being a kid.”<\/p>\n WXPN will be sending O’Connell off with special programming and events over the next three months. The station is also encouraging fans to submit songs for its top 50 “Kids Corner” songs playlist, or treasured memories of the show for inclusion in a “Treasure Chest” program.<\/p>\n “I’m going to miss the whole WXPN crew,” O’Connell said in a statement. “I’m going to miss the fun of being on the air.”<\/p>\n Follow Kristin & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @kristin_hunt
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