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Reading,
Writing and Radio
Sixty-five
thousand radio listeners in Northern California start
their mornings with Michael Krasny. The host of KQED-FM’s "Forum"
show, Krasny matches wits with Nobel Laureates, heads of state and Pulitzer
Prize winners. And that’s just the beginning of a typical work day.
When the on-air light goes off, Krasny heads to another demanding job
as an English professor at San Francisco State.
Professor
Krasny enters the classroom quietly, almost unnoticed by the
30 or so students who are talking softly, grabbing a chance to review
their assigned John Cheever story or down a late lunch. This isn't
the strong-voiced, in-a-hurry-to-get-to-the-point man who commands KQED's
top-rated show. The professor slouches just a bit, his hands scrunched
into his pockets, reading glasses hanging from a cord around his neck.
The noise level remains a steady hum as he approaches the desk, slips
the glasses on and skims a few notes. If this were live radio, the class
would be getting a "ten seconds" cue right about now, followed
by a little up-tempo "Forum" theme music and a full-volume
Krasny announcing "From KQED in San Francisco, this is ‘Forum.'"
But the only cue is a subtle removal of the reading glasses before Krasny
looks up and cuts right to the point: "Let me know your impressions
of Cheever. The first question I have for you is how do you sympathize?"
In the flurry of questions and answers that follows, Krasny interjects
with psychological theory, historical insights, and references to sociological
phenomena, literary works and mythology. "Do people know or remember
who Arthur Godfrey is?" … "Is that what you said, is
that what you meant?"…"By the way, who was Jupiter in
mythology?" Even when faced with the tough task of reprimanding
students rapt in private conversation, Krasny employs a time-honored question:
"Am I going to have to separate you two? This isn't high school
anymore."
As the professor's lecture leaps across vast stretches of time and
distance, students attempting to keep up with the literary allusions can
be faced with "an appallingly long ‘to read' list,"
says Elizabeth Horabin (B.A., '01), a student pursuing her master's
in English literature, "but it's worth it."
Today's discussion revolves around a morally ambiguous character
in Cheever's short story, "The Country Husband," but
with Krasny, even the sometimes rascally protagonist gets a fair, level
hearing. And the professor appears to be relishing the discussion. He
paces from side to side, hunching his shoulders for emphasis, sometimes
smiling wryly at passages from the text, at other times chuckling with
glee. He explains Cheever's world -- sweater sets and country
clubs, sublimated desires and frustrations -- to his assemblage of
mostly 21st century urban youth -- bearded and pierced, midriffs bared,
heads sporting about a dozen shades of hair color. "It's the
suburbs!" he exclaims, throwing his hands toward the ceiling.
His responses to student comments and insights could be straight out of
the etiquette handbook on a Cheever housewife's bookshelf -- complimentary,
just flattering enough to encourage more. "That's a very good
observation. Your references to Proust are revealing. That's a nice,
hopeful reading. That is an excellent point."
He challenges, raises the bar, but doesn't goad, cajole or condescend.
He demonstrates that he's a very good host.
On
the Air
Mornings at KQED, host Krasny demonstrates that he's
a very good teacher.
Inside the dimly lit studio, Krasny launches the topic of today's "Forum"
-- alternative approaches to juvenile detention.
He introduces his guests, a panel of representatives from local law enforcement
and community groups who meet regularly through the city's Juvenile Detention
Alternatives Initiative, an effort to work toward more efficient and effective
responses to juvenile crime.
If juveniles aren't incarcerated, Krasny asks, "What kinds of programs
are we talking about?"
Lt. Cohn Johnson of the Bayview Hunter's Point Precinct mentions several
city programs which help teen offenders turn their lives around.
"How about the Omega Boys Club?" Krasny adds, giving the work
of SFSU alumnus Joe Marshall a quick plug.
Later in the show, Krasny fields calls from listeners.
"Hi Michael, I hate to be critical, but too often I think programs
like this… tend to be self-congratulatory without really addressing
what the problem is."
"What is the problem?" Krasny asks.
"It's economics," the caller says. "You're looking at a
lot of kids -- they're not stupid.… They sell drugs because it gets
them money."
Krasny lets James Bell of the W. Haywood Burns Institute respond. "We
are not saying that this is a panacea for prevention in all of San Francisco's
poor communities," Bell says. "We're looking at those kids who
have violated the law and we are working with them to try to change their
lives."
Much like the classroom professor, the host is patient, encouraging and
nonjudgmental. He reveals a knowing grin when a caller comes on a little
too strong with the guests. "It sounds like marketing," one
of these callers says, dismayed that the show hasn't included more detailed
descriptions of what the community programs actually do.
In what seems like just moments, the hour has passed. Krasny wraps it
up. "I want to thank you all for this marketing hour," he says
with a chuckle and reads a teaser about the next hour of the show: a look
at the breakdown of conduct in society and concepts of civility with authors
P.M. Forni and Donald McCullough.
The on-air light goes off and there's a collective sigh of relief. Krasny
stands and thanks the departing guests. He's relaxed and jovial. Off the
air, the topic turns to the recent removal of the host's trademark mustache.
"It makes you look younger," a visitor offers.
"You think so?" Krasny says, his smile growing a bit wider at
its newly revealed corners.
There's no break for coffee, or even water, and soon the "30 seconds,
sir" warning is heard, and the second hour begins.
The
call to teach
Talk with Krasny about his two demanding careers and
it becomes clear that he sees unity, not conflict, in his callings. Both
careers are driven by a common goal, to make knowledge and ideas broadly
accessible. "What serves the public interest is a major criterion
for us," Krasny says. He's referring to "Forum" and how
his radio team chooses topics and guests, but he could just as easily
be talking about the mission of a public university. "We're trying
to be a place where ideas can breathe and have freedom to roam in all
different directions and where people can learn about becoming better
citizens and I hope better human beings. And where ideas can lead to other
ideas and build consciousness."
"Forum" has covered NATO one day, followed by local election
results the next and Brazil's new president a few days later.
There's a good sprinkling of health stories, business and technology features,
and a look at sports and entertainment. "It's like a huge magazine,"
Krasny says, "or like a university of the airwaves."
It's inevitable to ask -- when his mornings are filled with personal heroes
like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, Cesar Chavez, and Rosa Parks
-- why those afternoons in the classroom still call to Krasny.
The acerbic, fast-talking radio personality fades away when Krasny talks
about his SFSU students past and present, and someone more like a proud
father takes over.
"There's something about teaching at State," Krasny says. "You
can have exceedingly bright students here who are exceptional literature
students -- brilliant, remarkably gifted writers as well as critics. And
you can work in the trenches -- the real trenches -- with remedial students."
While Krasny is justifiably proud of the advanced students he has taught
-- including poet Reginald Lockett, journalist Adair Lara, a drama student
named Annette Bening, and Ed Bullins, one of theater's most accomplished
playwrights -- he is equally proud of the hundreds of students who learned
the basics of composition in his classes.
"You get a student who suddenly begins to learn how to express himself
or herself, to find language and really master something like a sentence
-- the rewards are obvious," he says.
On the road again
Krasny's is a life of late-night reading, battling city
traffic between studio and university and keeping a constant eye on breaking
news and trends. His preparation for "Forum" includes reading
the latest novel by any author he interviews.
On a single Tuesday in November Krasny started the day discussing cardiovascular
disease and women's health with a panel of medical experts. During
the second hour of "Forum" he chatted with art critic Robert
Hughes. He drove to State to teach "Contemporary American Short
Story" followed by "Seminar on 20th Century American Literature."
Then it was off to moderate San Francisco's mayoral run-off candidates
debate, sponsored by KQED and the Commonwealth Club.
"In a week's time, Michael will absorb and discuss knowledgeably
more ideas and facts than many of us confront in six months' time,"
says Raul Ramirez, executive producer at KQED. "And he manages to
remain remarkably approachable, sensible and sensitive."
"How does he do it?" people ask, perhaps imagining a frazzled
Krasny grading term papers while a celebrity guest cools his heels in
KQED's green room.
Both jobs involve long hours and hard work. The busy host manages his
time well and sets aside plenty for his family.
"My nose is not always in a book," he insists.
Krasny, 59, lives in Greenbrae with his wife, an attorney and SFSU alumna.
One daughter works for a major non-profit organization that helps youth
at risk. The other is a high school senior; Krasny rarely misses her soccer
games and recently has joined her to tour a handful of prospective colleges.
Krasny's Labrador retriever keeps him busy, too. Together they walk
about four miles a day.
Krasny enjoys his fast-paced life. Juggling two careers is difficult,
he says, but "it's still much more satisfying and stimulating
and a lot easier than doing bone-breaking labor like my father did his
whole life." Krasny's father worked as an ice cream factory
laborer in Cleveland.
"There was no union, so nothing to keep the bosses from telling
him to come in any time of day or night, especially in the summer when
demand was so great." His father "wanted nothing more than
I should be a professional white-collar man," Krasny recalls. "There
but for the grace of my father go I -- he helped me pay for an education."
Krasny, in turn, has dedicated his life to giving students -- and listeners
-- an education. "I'm a public servant as a university professor
and as a public radio guy," he says. And radio is the perfect medium
for "bringing town and gown together and extending to the public
what we do here at a university."
Stay tuned for more
"People often ask me whether I enjoy the classroom
more than the radio or the radio more than the classroom and I really
enjoy them equally," Krasny says. "It's a difficult
choice that fortunately I have never had to make." And clearly,
there's some synergy between the two.
"What you're looking for [on radio] is fodder and material
that's going to be interesting to the public, that's going
to be illuminating or useful. We want to stir up interest and engage people.
Because ideas are always floating around at a university -- and they
ought to be -- sometimes those ideas stick and program ideas will either
directly or indirectly come from students, classroom discussion or colleagues."
SFSU faculty members have served as Krasny's guests throughout his
broadcast career, not just on "Forum," but when Krasny hosted
programs at KRON, BayTV and KGO commercial radio. His many faculty guests
have included, among others, Whitney Chadwick (Art), Jacob Needleman (Philosophy),
Dan Macallair (Criminal Justice), Steve Dickison (Poetry Center), Eric
Solomon (English), Jules Tygiel (History), and Robert Smith (Political
Science).
"I've been taking advantage for years of the fact that we
have a superb faculty here and have raided my colleagues for guest appearances
on both radio and television, showing my chauvinism toward San Francisco
State," Krasny says.
His academic background helps in less obvious ways, as well. "One
of the things about studying literature that's been extremely useful
to me in public radio is that you see the grays in everything,"
Krasny says.
The host's ability to tackle an issue from different angles and
his easy way with his guests help make "Forum" discussions
so lively and interesting, says Stuart Hyde, professor emeritus in Broadcast
and Electronic Communication Arts. "Unlike some show hosts -- Larry
King for one -- Michael engages in a conversation, rather than a question
and answer session," Hyde says. "He never holds forth, professing
to have the final word on every topic."
When describing Krasny, the label "perennial student" seems
as fitting as that of "public educator."
While still an undergrad in southern Ohio, a young Michael Krasny hitchhiked
to Chicago to interview one of his heroes, novelist Saul Bellow. Instead
of delivering the answers to literary life's burning questions,
Bellow posed some questions of his own. "He asked ‘How should
a good man live? What does it mean to acquire knowledge and erudition?
How does it apply to life? What do we get from the knowledge we acquire?'"
Those questions -- along with many others -- have been driving Michael
Krasny ever since. "I can say comfortably that I am what I wanted
to be when I was a young man -- I'm a learned man now,"
he says. "But does that make me a better man, a better human being?
It's only taught me how ignorant I am, really. It's only taught
me how little I know, above all."
It has taught Michael Krasny to keep asking questions.
-- Ellen
Griffin
More:
Krasny Statistics
 
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