I love. Stuart. You're dreaming to start you on your way. Through your 30 or even I need to. The song or story this just for you. Tonight continue the story folk tale or end with glory I'm really in my glory knowing stories here to you. Thank you for tuning in to k p f k this is wrong so often and today I'm talking with Uncle Ruthie and this is a special tribute looking back on 61 years with Uncle Ruthie and her show k.p.s. . Well it's half way down the stairs but today I would want to come up with all the way down the stairs and back again and we're very fortunate that we're both here and able to carry on a conversation with each other so with that I would like to know how you got started in show business really seems like I was born that I was morning show this I started at the age of 11 I heard about a group in Chicago I lived in Chicago and Wisconsin on a farm in Chicago they had a group called the Jack and Jill players run by Mary Agnes Foley near north side and it was a bunch of kids and they were actors and they were talented and they got out of school so they could do plays all over Chicago and other people schools and they Toby Tyler circus. All kinds of wonderful stories for kids and that was us the Jack and Jill players we acted in plays and we made films the kind of films that you saw in high school like are you popular shy guy Dick York was was the shy guy by Bela ban he probably doesn't remember me that was that was the middle group that acted in these movies Scheidegger York bellmen Ruthie Buell in a few others we acted him out these movies were made on the estate of of David Smart who only Esquire magazine were paid $15.00 a day we thought it was a lot of money they were very instructional and corny movies that you were forced to sit through when you were in school when I was in radio I did the Bubi b.m. And Dick Your had a program he was very silly he was a skinflint until then and nobody knew what it meant would be attracted. I listen to radio remember back in those days I was born 130 and there was no t.v. There wasn't t.v. Radio was what we had sometimes the less you have the more you have radio didn't have tickets years so you could go outside and play an act out something you saw and you heard on radio and your acting out would be different than your neighbor next door would give you some freedom now it's totally structured you just act out whatever episode you saw last night anyway everybody acted out what they saw Roy Rogers and everything that was part of our entertainment so I was very busy acting because I was an abused child and it was always nice to sort of leave my little world and be in a world where people were nicer my mom could go for 5 months without saying one word to me. Not even one word so when when I was a little girl I used to pretend I was going to school I was going to school I was walking to school and the director across the street would be saying in this scene Ruthie you play the part of a girl 11 years old going to school and you're walking to school I also was saved of I like teachers who recognized certain amount of talent but that's what saved me and teachers and nice people that was. It was it was much different there were no there was no tape there was no cd you know there was ice a train up to make noise with the paper you read your line and drop your paper on the floor. So that you wouldn't make noise if you. Change the scene. This is a later when we started doing t.v. You had to actually run physically from one place to another place it was live and it was it was probably more fun the title was from one of my favorite writers at that time everybody a mill we wrote Winnie the Pooh and. Halfway down the stairs if you listen to the poem what it really means it's a place where I see it already we know it's nowhere because it's in the middle and there's nothing like it that's also true of my show and not the bottom not at the top and so this is where I always this is the step where I always so halfway up the stairs that I judge from down to up it's not up it's not down it isn't in the nursery someone from a place for near it isn't in town it's just you and your head and all sorts of funny thoughts run around my head and here's the the tip off it isn't really anywhere it's somewhere else and stabs Yes and he was such a wonderful writer. He not only wrote about me he had gotten my mother down pat my mother was in or the donkey. My mother was more eager than yours. Yes it's my birthday yes to see the cake. Candles Oh yes I'm having a wonderful person. Now I was basically in a sad little abused child and I would take all my downtime and all my little cards and put them on a chair which is the stage and have a little show in my bedroom so you were doing this show for yourself right there myself you were on the radio you know the little cat and she was killing me out and now we bring you Kitty meow singing a song yeah I guess I was in show business before I was in real life you know there's not that much difference how did you get to be uncle Ruthie president it's a good question Ross in those days they were men little goober voices look it up who read stories to children on the radio and they had the dubious patronize in voices you know high boys and girls here's a story about a little tree that was lost in the forest. And they were always avuncular there always Uncle Bill Uncle Bob Uncle Dan They always had this title uncle. The most famous of all was Uncle Don. Don has left the world an important message if there's a microphone in a box in the room with you be careful what you say even if it's in a box be aware of all microphones plugged in or not one day Uncle Don thought his program was over the his mike was not turned on and he heaved a big sigh of relief and he said well I guess I'll hold the little bastards and Uncle Don was never on the radio again. And who started with Cynthia Sears and Douglas Dick and myself reading it my favorite writer Edward Gorey a very gothic funny writer and we did a Edward Gorey spectacular one of the stories is called The Ugly romp and I did it in my Glynis Johns voice and I did a story called The what Lee and I would say for this particular story and this is how we got born I was going to be like the guys on the radio and I seem to ask did you think young hunk of Ruthie with a story by Edward Corey and then I would go and do the whole story in that voice that is John's. And Rosler meant to be the next studio at the time that I 1st did it and began saying things like and good night Uncle Ruthie wherever you are Mrs Keller that and Jimmy Durante So there was that and the next studio and then everybody started calling me Uncle Ruthie and didn't let go and before you knew it that was my name. And I love it it was interesting. That's interesting so it was a good name to have. Yes And this show just sort of morphed into a show one of how we I was a witch named Uncle Ruthie. And I have to ignore more uncle Ruthie and before you know it Jerry said how about doing something every week and so I started doing something every week then I did a thing called Lunch fair it was every day for 15 minutes it just sort of turned into. This is lost so you're listening to a special tribute to Uncle Ruthie on k t f k and this was 19 still in the meeting which is yeah I had 3 kids and that's when they said you want to be in a play called check of the Seagull I said only if I could be the lead because I have 3 children I'm not going to do a lot of work to say Dinner is served so that's my 1st thing that I ever did and he'd be of k. You know to go out with people realize I already was an actor and I liked it I had a difficult marriage and my husband made fun of me oh we are interacting period oh we are in our poetry period because I wrote poems and stuff like that I did not have an easy life when I was being uncle. I had a difficult life and. The kids were wonderful course when did your show appear when did you when did your shows when it's the station when on the air and 59 that's when I started doing and public affairs programs we had a program about Carol just when the red light bandit and I went out was my microphone and I interviewed the people of Los Angeles and I picked places since I had studied statistics I picked places that were good places to have. A representative sample as they say people from Hollywood Boulevard is a good place people are visiting and they're from everywhere you see l.a. Is an academic place you could always get professors and it was one of my shows and one was when was was found it's a disaster with public affairs not with stuff at all there was 961 and they said what the punishment should he have everyone was asking how do you punish somebody for killing that many Jewish people there is no punishment so people would Where ask each other and I did a program called something about humanity I realized one day I was interviewing somebody on Hollywood that they actually did not know who. Else life man was they didn't know anything about it but they wanted to be on the radio if I could was not see a big shot Nazi who like to sit on the roof of buildings and look at the Jews as they took their final breaths watch them die he was the only one that the state of Israel convicted with carefully punishment he's the only one who was killed as a result of his conviction you know now this is interesting because you're going to kill somebody they're gone I went out on Fairfax 7 it was my 3rd placed Hollywood u.c.l.a. And I got a lot of professors when I was in Fairfax. And there was a lot of passion from people on Fairfax outside of Cantors an old man said How do I think he should be punished. This should be punished they should have a cot a cot and it should be a big God put in the trout and on the sides of the car he should say I am Adolf Eichmann the killer from the Jews and they take this all over the world this car is a man in the cart show them who is I when the killer of the Jews and a whole life his whole life that's what we do that's that's how many they thought we should punish him and they might be right. Then I did other documentaries about ecology and whether everything I and then somebody discovered I had 3 children. Like you have a children's program my children were a 1st you know they would resent my being taken away from them until I said you wanted to say Miami want to do it Green Eggs and Ham and they. Needed Green Eggs and Ham and they did all kinds of stuff on my show rainy really my daughter was in which I rushed sang her song. Relation hand by it was wonderful Danny and Tony and they both very good actors one is now a lawyer and the other is the director of probation for. Puerile county but they were good little actors really was a witch and she's saying if that there is too thin. Something in they won't teach you this in books but weak is fine is good we don't need brains we don't need looks which is our the finest goods or they read the finest books they've after realizing it had to share me. Joined the group. I'm not so sure they would approve of that now. It was written by Dr Seuss Of course my best program for Dr Seuss. You know I've done hundreds of programs the sleep book was about everybody getting ready for bed and that's when I took everything in my house and made it into a sound effect they were birds quarrelling I had 2 birds they were quarrelling the sound of a waterfall my most toothbrushes and water I made sound effects. I was pretty creative about that it was a lot of fun. Yeah and the sleep book turned out to be a lovely. Program and little toy machine I called the Audio tell yo tell yo count and when we finished it and had already to go we wrote to Dr Seuss. World has come in from the town of l.a. The very fine station Ok p f k is going to broadcast your sleep book today this may not seem very important to you but it is because you're probably the wanting to sue and we did that and this is Dr says wife love that it was very nice and nobody has ever objected to my doing their husbands wives or their own work because it gave them publicist if you're doing good publicity for somebody they're not going to criticize you for the only person gave me a hard time was it was actually my friend Ray Bradbury who didn't know who I was at the time and you can't just use myself as oh really I want to do the story and so beautiful and finally let me do it let me did his the Halloween tree and it is about the history of how we made into a drama and it's beautiful writing on race part it's a Ray Michael Dell. Of precious memory and I got into this room and did that book how entry I played the part of all the children children's voices Ray was the narrator it's still available we make money off of it and it's a very good program later on when Ray realized that I was only good for him he became friends and I treasure my copy of how wintry was his sentiment you know. Met him at the studio in studio b. Mike got ahold of him and did a lot of programs with Michael Dell He was one of our most famous and wonderful broadcasters over the years. Our 25 science fiction program he had that he also did anything dramatic and. What didn't he do. He and I were extremely close friends. Mike the night before he died all by himself in the hospital room at Cedars he was asleep couldn't we couldn't communicate but that's it he was he was a precious precious jewel in the crown of k p s k This is raw So you're listening to a special tribute to. Katie if. He ever read 14050. I never did and he and I don't really record it or not really was a special person really he could be prickly he had his own rules the thing that I loved best and that most people love best about Ray Bradbury is his writing. And this is true not of Ray Bradbury alone but everyone who writes everyone who has a talent it's probably true of me. I'm just a nice little Jewish lady with 3 kids in a family I made forced which I will give you at the end of the session however would you know me as a talented story reader which is true also I guess but not all the time I want me Uncle Ruthie one hour a week this is a story from grasshopper on the road. It's his 1st journey and he goes out on the road leads these beetles these beetles are carrying signs and one says make mine morning and I went as just me it's morning the other one says I love morning we love. Morning is the best grasshopper comes upon this enclave of beetles and says Good morning. Which is what you say and they say yes every morning is a good morning we are the members of the we love morning club. Do you love morning is oh yes I do I do her a they all say grasshopper is one of us he loves morning and they give him a crown kiss me it's morning they give him a sign make my morning and they run around and they sing a song and a song that they sing sounds a lot like the Hari Krishna song m o r in I in g. Spells mornings bells morning and are in the bill and grasshopper ventures a sentence is as I like afternoon 2. And a bit of the what did you say and grasshoppers as and evening is very nice and one dummy Another one says stupid and they take away his crown and they take away his sign and grasshopper says it's all right I am exploring the world and he goes on down the road and the whole book is grasshopper. Meeting on these wonderful people and bureaucracy is my favorite chapter he meets a boat from an I man with a little boat who insists that the only way to cross the stream is to be right in this boat of his grass have a who is much bigger than the boat or the boatman says I don't fit into your boat I don't at all fit into your boat and the little animals as rules are rules you must ride in this out those other rules grass or we can't think how to solve this problem and he just picks up the boat in the boat's been and crosses that way and thanks him the whole book is grasshopper encountering the real world and trying to figure out a way to make it fit into his own picture of it he meets a compulsive house flight she cleans the whole world he meets. Butterflies they're all sitting on mushrooms each one has his own mice her own room and here comes the grasshopper and they say Prez. We have to. Get freaky we come here and we sit in these mushrooms can we tell our dreams can't and then and he says Oh it's very we like you grasshopper we would like you just a wee little here to join us happy gave a come here he will sit and measurement as I was as no no no no no I I must be on my way I'm exploring I am part of a huge jury and I must be going oh Chris but we want you to stay and so it's about the league conflict of you know you be secure and stay where you are or shall you explore the world and grasshopper it is indeed pilgrim in Pilgrim's Progress and just utterly charming if I name meets a. Dragon flies they are so fast they're in such a big hurry they don't see anything of the world they're too busy and as a whistle I have it was up and down to show their speed our love bill is for all ages of mankind in person kind arrow a bell is again a gym in the world of literature next children's literature just in the world of literature a good children's book is that just for children where did the ducks go in Central Park where we're now that's a question that gets asked a lot in a particular novel what novel. This kid in the novel wants always is concerned he's worried it's cold in the winter in Central Park where do the ducks go. The young boy in Catcher In The Rye is always asking everybody where ducks go in Central Park in the winter he is concerned my daughter was entering the front door once and the Fuller Brush man was at the door and he gave her a sample and talked to her and he said Do you have any other questions for your 4 Brush man Renia said yes where do the ducks go in the winter in Central Park it was a man he says I don't know honey and really don't know but she was requests and for him being funny no one affected your show here the listeners like to think it had a tremendous effect they met stories they would never have met otherwise they've met the word generalization which is these stories that are not just for kids these are stories about the way we live our lives and a good children's I think there's no such thing as a just a children's story a good children's story is for all ages and so on many many many levels I won't read a story that isn't interesting you know it's got to be interesting everything I've ever read on the air is for all ages your favorite story as with my listeners has always been come again in the spring about the old man that cheats death tolls are . And I've introduced so many stories to l.a. People here and my listeners that makes me very happy I get letters Dear Uncle Ruthie my father was dying last month and I heard a old heart and heard you read that story and it really comforted me and the thought of something I do could be of comfort to people was very very gratifying. And introduce literature to people. English teacher Ross knows what how wonderful it is open the world up a little bit for people people sort of surprised that they liked it so much. And then then there course is the John Birch Society. Not everybody here from the day we read but there was a time when the John Birch Society had a thing called the Robert well just blue book and we decided to read the entire Blue Book on k p f k and we took turns and we took turns reading it sections and I read a section and I got a phone call from the John Birch Society saying how beautifully I read that part and would I like to join the John Birch Society and I said I think you need to remember that I'm an actor and I was reading a story no I would not specially like to join the John Birch Society this is Ross I hope you're listening to a special tribute to a. Kid. In the fifty's. We decide if you wish to hear what they were hea