Local Icon Reitzes Plans Her Exit

After 45 years on air with WABE’s “City Lights,” Lois Reitzes will hang up her weekday mic at the end of June. She began working at the station in 1979 as a music programmer and announcer and served as program director from 1992 to 2007. Before that, she pursued graduate studies in musicology at Indiana University in Bloomington.

She told the AJT that she may remain an occasional contributor “after she figures the whole retirement rhythm out.”

She related, “I have an open invitation to return in bits anytime. It’s going to be a different format — more like NPR meets magazine.”

When queried if she worries about being bored coming off such a “high wire,” she was unequivocal, saying, “I plan to be a more available friend, wife, and relative as I step away from this glorious job. I have photos to sort and a lot of de-cluttering to do.”

Glorious, yes, but consider her past and current 60-to-70-hour work week recording and editing and much more. Note that Reitzes, who gets to her desk at 6:30 a.m. start time, struggled with long COVID with some shortness of breath and fatigue.

Much of Reitzes’ time and devotion goes on behind the scenes with countless hours of research. She mused, “One can never be over prepared; and this job is about being a good listener, not so much about talking.”

Some would wager that Reitzes’ mellow, vibratory whisper-like signature voice is the trademark for her success.

Looking back, Reitzes recalls meeting her husband, Don, a social science professor and Dean at Georgia State University, at the Art Institute of Chicago during a film series in 1975, “long before streaming.”

He took her to a fancy French restaurant “and he paid” which implied more than friendship which he finagled through a cousin. She and Don now enjoy the conviviality of entertaining. She said, “Don’s more adventurous like something from Julia Child — slivered potatoes with cream and butter, beef tenderloin and fish; and I lean towards more simple recipes. I’m more the chopper and arranger. Don grew up on German food like sweet luckshen kugel. We do look forward to traveling together — some to my “island get away — New York City.” Also, as a young mother in the 1980s, she wished to have had more schedule flexibility, which she likened to major choreography, doing it all with limited quality time. One adult son lives in Cobb County.

When asked what her one favorite interview might be before exiting, she mused, “Mel Brooks or Yo-Yo Ma or better yet, both together. They are both icons.”

In explaining “the art of the interview,” Reitzes cautions that “interviewing is not an essay. Have to focus on the subject. Shine a light on them. Keep the reader/viewer in mind. That’s the most important thing in honing this field.”

Below are some off-the-cuff remarks in from this writer’s previous Lowdown column to get to know Lois better.

Jaffe: How did you develop such a distinctive and deliberate diction?
Reitzes: I was born with an unusually low voice and register, as was my brother. I had no training in drama, but as a child I was called “Tallulah Bankhead” because of it.

Jaffe: David Foster or Beethoven?
Reitzes: Mozart is my fav composer if that’s the question.

Jaffe: How would you spend a day off?
Reitzes: I read a lot.  Now into “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles. He also wrote, “A Gentleman in Moscow.”

Jaffe: You’ve interviewed a lot of famous folks, by whom were you most awestruck?
Reitzes: I have been so privileged. Robert Battle (creative director for Alvin Ailey), film director Barry Jenkins, authors Salman Rushdie and Richard Russo. Locally, Susan Booth and Pearl Cleage.

Jaffe: My biggest pet peeve is …
Reitzes: Overall rudeness and humor at someone else’s expense.

Jaffe: My comfort foods are …
Reitzes: Rich chocolate brownies are the perfect food. Non-sweets would be a Chicago deep dish pizza. Oh, I love gelato … must be the food of the gods.