Special Features

WCPE’s General Manager for 30 years… Deborah S. Proctor

Favorite food: Italian food, pizza and spaghetti and a salad on the side with really good blue cheese dressing.

Favorite music: Well, I like classical (laughs), and also music of the ’70s. Robert Knight’s Everlasting Love is a great song, also music from The Fifth Dimension and some Beatles. Favorite films: I like the older movies: Ben Hur, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, It’s a Wonderful Life. I love a good story with a good moral! Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers, too.

Favorite books: I like non-fiction about physics, explaining the universe, astronomy; what’s behind the simple exterior of the everyday things and what lies behind our solar system. It’s so interesting how things work—that things even work at all! The fact that tiny little charged particles make up everything we deal with in life is completely fascinating to me!

Favorite pet: My first dog, Lucky, was a Beagle mix. He was so smart—we’d play the shell game, and he always knew where the treat was. Lucky was absolutely terrified of thunder, I remember sitting with him in the closet whenever there was a storm. Lucky was the best.

Favorite job: I’ve really only had one, and it’s here at WCPE. Seeing how music affects people, how it heals and comforts; everyday we’re doing something that makes the world a little bit better.

Favorite hobby: Reading. When I have time away from work, I want to read.

Other favorite: Studying how we can all live here on the planet together, safely and happily. It’s actually a big concern of mine.

Who Am I?

Compiled by Deana Vassar

♦ Conducting prodigies are rare. I was actually 7 years old when I began conducting.

♦ When I was 11 years old, I conducted the famed NBC Symphony Orchestra.

♦ I couldn’t bear the thought of eating animals. I also couldn’t bear the thought of eating vegetables! I was a self-proclaimed “meat shunner.” My diet consisted of grains, nuts, fruits and dairy.

♦ The University of Melbourne is home to a museum in my honor.

♦ Why are people so obsessed with fashion? I often wore the same clothes for days on end. I don’t think people really notice.

♦ I was a man of varied interests. I actually loved doing beadwork for relaxation and even making interesting pieces of clothing.

♦ People still say that sweet Viola’s and my wedding was one of the most spectacular in history—nuptials on stage at the Hollywood Bowl during one of my concerts! Shows at the Bowl were 25 cents a seat in those days, and thousands attended, so we actually profited from our big day. The orchestra for an altar, what could be better for a musician?

♦ Like so many artists, I found walking to be one of the greatest sources of inspiration. I was a “power walker” long before it became a fad.

♦ Folksongs were my favorite inspiration. I used them to create pieces that I called “heartoutbursts”!

If you'd like to identify other mystery musical figures, visit the Who Am I? quizzes posted in the Classical Facts & News section at our website.