Where did you grow up and do you have any siblings?
I grew up right here in Los Angeles. Hancock Park specifically. I have one sister who is 9 years older than me. Obviously I wanted to hang out with her all the time when I was a kid. She was less enthusiastic about hanging out with me. She once told me my voice cut through her head like a katana sword. But we’re very close now.
What is your current occupation?
I manage a beautiful shop called The Platform Experiment in Highland Park.
What is your fantasy occupation?
Well – I sure do love the radio…
When did you first discover KCRW?
It was 2000 when I inherited a 1989 Dodge Spirit in Ice Blue. I would drive The Spirit to my magnet high school across town. I had a car pool of kids that I would pick up along the way for gas money. We would listen to Morning Becomes Eclectic and chill in the senior parking lot. The 9th and 10th graders I chauffeured thought I was the COOLEST. And – I kinda was.
How did you find your way to our station for volunteering?
My signif is a comedian and knows Monika Scott from the stand up circuit. He introduced me to her and since she is one of the most likable people ever – I just wanted to do whatever she was doing. She was the volunteer coordinator at KCRW at the time so I became a volunteer and got coordinated by Ms. Scott herself.
What’s your current volunteer position and how long have you been at it?
I started out at the front desk. Now I volunteer for All Things Considered doing news production. I also volunteer for the cool events that KCRW does around town. I think it’s been (gulp) two years total?
Favorite volunteer moment?
My mom and I volunteered together for last year’s Pie Contest and we got to taste a whole butt load of pies. (What would you call a group of pies? A comfort? You know – like a pride of lions. A comfort of pies.) We were in pie heaven.
If you could get on the mic and say one sentence on the air, what would it be?
Rupaul – Meet me at The York – you’re paying!
What song have you hit repeat on lately?
The Coffee Cola Song by Francis Bebey
Favorite book, movie?
Muggle LYFE.
When I was 15 my family went on a road trip up and down California. My mother, a life long theater actress, read the first Harry Potter book out loud to me, my sister and my dad in the car. She did all the voices. We agreed – it was good for a kids book. We couldn’t know it would be our last time all together – my dad died suddenly of a heart attack a few months later. The following summer, the three of us didn’t go on vacation but we met up and my mom read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to me and my sister. The following summer – she did it again. By the time the last book came out – I was in my mid twenties and living by myself in New York City. My dad had been dead for almost ten years. But my mom bought a plane ticket and flew across the country. We spent four days in a hotel so she could read the whole thing aloud to me. Voices and all.
Favorite thing to do outside the station?
I produce two live shows at a fabulous venue in Mid-City called Paper or Plastik. One is a stand up show called Cindy Crawford hosted by my signif and the other is a storytelling show that I co-host with two friends called All Together Now. I’m also helping to direct a play at Sacred Fools Theater that goes up in January. We just started rehearsals this week!
What does KCRW mean to you?
Man, I don’t want to get too weepy or anything but – being part of KCRW rewards me in so many unexpected and fulfilling ways. It was a big part of growing up in LA and I feel very lucky that it is part of my adult LA experience. It is a bunch of interesting, diverse people, doing things that make them more informed, happier, and better connected to the world around them. KCRW is Angelino short hand for – I’m cool, are you? It is one of the truly good things about our city and my life.
Avishay said it best, but Maggie the type of person that is just plain fun to be around. Here in the office she’ll stop by for a quick convo that you never know where it might lead, but it’s always interesting… that’s a guarantee. Maggie, you’re great!
