William O’Shaughnessy
President & Editorial Director
Ruth Kitchen
A Remembrance
A Whitney Global Media Commentary
September 29, 2021
by William O’Shaughnessy
Ruth Kitchen was a great lady and an extraordinary public servant.
As a townie politician, she was one of the brightest and most dynamic and respected members of our City Council for many years.
Ruth loved parades and led many of them right down North Avenue through the heart of our town. She was universally respected in our home heath … and we missed her when she moved South to be with her sister many years ago.
Ruth loved to belt out the National Anthem at civic events. And for several years she hosted a popular Open Line program on WVOX in Westchester. She was a New York State leader in opposition to the Death Penalty.
Ruth was 97 when she left us.
But we can still hear her music.”
William O’Shaughnessy, a former president of the New York State Broadcasters Association, was chairman of Public Affairs for the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington. He has been a point man and advocate for the broadcasters of America on First Amendment and Free Speech issues and is presently chairman of the Guardian Fund of the Broadcasters Foundation of America, the national charitable organization. He is also a longtime director and member of the Executive Committee of the Foundation. He has operated WVOX and WVIP, two of the last independent stations in the New York area, for over 60 years as president and editorial director.
He is the author of “AirWAVES” (1999) … “It All Comes Back to Me Now” (2001) … “More Riffs, Rants and Raves” (2004) … and “VOX POPULI: The O’Shaughnessy Files,” released in January, 2011. He has also written “Mario Cuomo: Remembrances of a Remarkable Man,” a tribute to his late friend Governor Mario M. Cuomo. His newest book RADIOactive for Fordham University Press, another anthology with interviews, commentaries, speeches and tributes was published in 2019. He is presently working on Townies, a paean to those without wealth, influence or high estate in suburban Westchester County, the heart of the Eastern Establishment.