Longtime DJ died of cancer on Thanksgiving day
Staff and volunteers at Portland State’s student-run radio station are reeling from the death of longtime KPSU DJ Judith Gennett, who died of cancer on Thanksgiving morning.
Friends and colleagues at KPSU say they will celebrate Gennett’s memory the best way that they know how—through music. On Saturday, Dec. 10, from 1 to 3 p.m. KPSU will broadcast a memorial radio program for Gennett at kpsu.org and 98.1 FM.
Gennett’s involvement in college and community radio dates back to 1995, and she had been involved with KPSU since 2002.
Vicky Mazzone, a KPSU DJ since 1996, remembers her colleague fondly.
“She was a great fixture at KPSU, and she hosted two shows for a very long time,” Mazzone said. “Very different shows. Judith hosted the Raggle Taggle Gypsy, a Euro-folk music show, and Suspect Terrane, which featured Euro heavy metal.”
Gennett was one of PSU’s many non–degree-seeking students, having earned her Ph.D. in geology from Texas A&M University in 1993.
“She was a student DJ at KPSU, taking language classes in Norwegian and French,” Mazzonne said. “She was a student in the true sense of the word—she took language classes because they interested her, and it was part of her family’s heritage.”
Family history was one of Gennett’s many hobbies, according to her personal web page, which she used to document her own family lineage as far back as 1683. She also had a strong interest in wine, geology and translating books from Norwegian into English.
Colleagues say Gennett’s eclectic tastes were reflected in her music collection as well.
“I would ‘steal’ a lot of music from her amazing program,” said Jessica Inman, host of KPSU’s Uncle Larry’s Kilt-Lifter Extravaganza program. “I loved her show and I had many interesting and really awesome conversations with her about European folk music. I will miss those conversations and her smiling and welcoming face.”
Former KPSU Programming Director Cody Austin Rich recalled Gennett’s enthusiasm for sharing all kinds of music with the PSU community.
“When I took over as programming director in 2004, one of my goals was to expand our schedule with new shows,” Rich said. “Judith volunteered to host another show, Suspect Terrane, a show that featured folk and metal. She took that kind of attitude with everything she did at KPSU, and the station will feel a great loss in her absence.”
Gennett lived with her family in the Dalles, and drove to Portland in order to take classes and host her radio programs at KPSU. While her colleagues say they admired her commitment to community radio, and her enthusiasm for both education and music, Vicky Mazzonne best summed up how her absence will be felt at KPSU.
“I’m going to miss her presence around the station,” Mazzonne said. “I’m going to miss her voice on the air.”
It would also be nice if KPSU would restore archived recordings of her past shows which the station just deleted.
Thank you very much for this article. It is gratifying to know that my mother will be missed. I would like to second the comment by Barry. I was hoping to hear her voice again in some archived shows, but was disgruntled to find that there were none.