Mary Margaret McBride (1899–1976)

Mary Margaret McBride was born in Paris, Missouri, to a farming family. She attended William Woods College for girls, and at age 16 entered the University of Missouri, where she received a degree in journalism in 1919. She spent a year as a reporter at the Cleveland Press, and then worked until 1924 at the New York Evening Mail. After this, she wrote freelance articles for magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, and Good Housekeeping. She also published a number of books, including Jazz (with Paul Whiteman, 1926) and Charm (with Alexander Williams, 1927) and several with Helen Josephy, including Paris Is a Woman’s Town (1929), London Is a Man’s Town (1930), New York Is Everybody’s Town (1931), and Beer and Skittles — A Friendly Modern Guide to Germany (1932).

Later she wrote two books for girls, Tune in for Elizabeth (1945) and The Growing Up of Mary Elizabeth (1966), two autobiographies, and a cookbook. From 1934 to 1940, she worked for WOR Radio in New York City, hosting a popular daily women's-advice show, using the persona of "Martha Deane," a warm, grandmotherly figure with a Missouri-drawl. She also began a weekly radio program under her own name that was broadcast alternately on CBS Radio (1937–1941); NBC Radio (1941–1950); ABC Radio (1950–1954); and again on NBC (1954–1960). From 1953 to 1956, she also wrote a syndicated newspaper column for the Associated Press. From 1960, she was heard in a syndicated program on New York Herald Tribune Radio. Her 45-minute live broadcasts consisting of ad-lib commentary and interviews drew audiences in the millions. Celebrities galore from entertainment, the arts, and politics appeared on her programs, and advertisers competed for her attention (although she refused to push any product that she had not personally tried and liked, or alcohol or tobacco products).
This enabled McBride and her longtime companion and business partner, Stella Karn,
to have total control over content, paving the way for independent producers. In her final years, she conducted a radio show three times a week from her own living room.