KPBS Visionairies

The latest KPBS Hall of Fame inductees, announced in 2012 and feted this year, are major figures in the history of KPBS. The category of KPBS Visionary denotes an individual who provides substantial fiscal support over many years. Here are the newest Visionaries who were officially celebrated recently.

The inimitable Audrey Geisel has demonstrated a firm commitment to KPBS for more than 20 years. Her financial contributions have supported education programs, but she has also been involved with KPBS in so many other ways, always sensitive to outreach and enrichment needs.

Aside from their great generosity in regard to KPBS, Visionaries Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner have brought to fruition many projects and established important centers elsewhere in our community — at UCSD, the San Diego Zoo, and The Old Globe, to name only a few. Prebys made a gift of $500,000 to the Masterpiece Trust last spring. That magnificent present is intended by Prebys to strengthen the Masterpiece series’ future on PBS.

Finally, the KPBS Lifetime Achievement Award recognized Brad Warner, the gentle bear of a man who watched over KPBS from the time it first went on air in 1967. He was KPBS’ first program manager and he remained in that position for 23 years. He carefully read letters and fielded phone calls from viewers and he was responsive to all, interactive in a mostly pre-digital age. For many years, he was the voice of KPBS television. He truly cared about his beloved TV station and its public. Music was his passion and he loved to sing. It was from his devotion to music that so many KPBS-produced music programs flowed. Warner enabled producers to make wonderful local music shows. In fact, his colleagues think Warner probably never missed a taping of Club Date jazz programs.

The KPBS Hall of Fame was established in 2010. Ken Jones, John Witherspoon, Paul Steen, Tom McManus and Paul Marshall were installed in the initial Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame. Honored Visionaries that year were Joan Kroc, the Copley family, Irwin and Joan Jacobs, Price Family Charities, Arthur and Jeannie Rivkin, Donald and Darlene Shiley, and the Viterbi Family. The following year boasted equally deserving honorees, and, no doubt, future years will, as well. Generous and talented people are treasures among us. The future of public broadcasting depends upon them.   DARLENE G. DAVIES