Lost Art Press

An Amazing New Job for Lucy May

Posted on by Lost Art Press

There are so many things that I admire about my spouse, Lucy, that I could easily double the size of this blog by starting a list of them. We’ve been married 29 years, have raised two fiercely intelligent women and I still love spending every waking moment with her.

One of the thousand bonds that we share has been our dedication to front-line work. Neither of us ever wanted to move into management and have remained front-line writers throughout our careers. 

Lucy has been a professional journalist at several daily newspapers, a weekly business newspaper and – most recently – as a TV reporter at WCPO-TV here in Cincinnati. While many journalists burn out after about a decade of covering this miserable world, Lucy has been on the front lines for more than 31 years, covering everything from the Kentucky Legislature to crime to difficult issues of homelessness and race.

And this month, Lucy starts a new job as the host of “Cincinnati Edition” on WVXU-FM, our local National Public Radio affiliate in Cincinnati. It’s the perfect job for her. She has been an NPR nerd as long as I’ve known her, and has been a huge booster for WVXU ever since we moved to the Cincinnati area in 1996.

This new position keeps her on the front lines – she’ll have a show five times a week that focuses on local news. And yet it will allow her to use her vast perspective on the city to help listeners make sense of the news. Lucy was born here, grew up here and has long been a fiercely independent journalist. She can get almost any Democrat, Republican or Charterite on the phone for an interview with ease because she has a reputation for fairness, thoughtfulness and (this is odd for a journalist) kindness.

I can’t wait to see what she is going to do.

Why am I telling you this? Because if it weren’t for this woman, we wouldn’t have Lost Art Press. John and I call her “madame president” – and mean it. She packed boxes, sold books and – most of all – said “quit your job” when I wanted to leave Popular Woodworking Magazine and do this stupidness. 

So today this blog is for Lucy, who has made the lives of thousands of people – including me – better. 

Your biggest fan,

Christopher Schwarz

P.S. You can read the “official” story of Lucy’s new job here.

P.P.S. Don’t bother leaving a nasty comment about journalists or NPR. No one will see it.

92 thoughts on “An Amazing New Job for Lucy May”

  4. Hooray for journalists, NPR, and Lucy. I love it when good people grab great gigs.

  9. I saw that earlier on Twitter. Really excited for her and for you. Congrats !!! Don’t live anywhere near but feel like I’d enjoy her show.

  11. Congratulations! I love NPR. Maybe I will hear you out here in CO someday.

  12. NPR affiliation is a “highest & best” use of her talent, it would seem. Go Lucy! I’ll ask my Alexa to play “Cincinnati Edition” soon. 🙂

  13. That’s wonderful news and a terrific way to start the new year! Congratulations, and thank you Lucy.

  14. I am so happy for her – and for you !

    I will leave a comment on NPR: pure jewel it is . I am in Quebec and I listen to it . Their shows are exceptional. They are unbiased because they are …intelligent:)

    Salut !

  16. Bravo Lucy, and thank you for your behind-the-scenes support for LAP, we’ve all got something to be grateful for.

  18. That is amazing! Congratulations, Lucy! It is wonderful that you and Chris are so supportive and proud of each other.

  19. I’m only bummed that I can’t say:Alexa, start my day… and have the npr news that includes Lucy. I’m out of your market area.

  20. Such a wonderful and well-earned opportunity for Lucy, who still has a hairy child to raise. She does all jobs well.

  21. Congratulations! What a great job! We have been supporters and listeners of NPR since it came into existence. Our NPR classical music station is on from morning until night at our house.

  22. Whenever you walk into my shop, NPR is on the radio. I am sooo happy for you guys.

  24. She’s the camber to your blade, the oil to your stone.

    My congrats (and thanks) to Lucy.

  26. Congratulations all around! It sounds like a wonderful opportunity for Lucy, and you, Chris, will get to bask in the reflected glow. (And I know about reflected glow!)

    I’m reminded of when I told my wife I was thinking about quitting a high-paying, fairly prestigious sort of job—just ‘cuz I wasn’t happy any more—and she said, “I’ve been hoping you would come to that conclusion. We’ll be fine. Better than fine—because we’ll be together more, and happier.” She of course was right.

  27. Wonderfully supportive of you, and absolutely impressive career accomplishment of Lucy. Gratitude comes in very close to oxygen on my personal list of essentials… cheers to the both of you!

  30. Congratulations! I was raised in a home where Public Radio was always on. Until I was 7 that home was in Cincinnati. I wish her all the best with her new show.

  34. Sounds like a fantastic promotion for an amazing woman. Congratulations all the way from New Zealand

  35. Hopefully the discourse remains unfettered for her and they get the necessary donations during the drives.

    Congrats!

  36. That’s great! Congratulations! I always listen to NPR when on a road trip in the US. Love it.

  37. That is awesome! Best of luck to Lucy in this new role! And I loved reading the “why” section, much respect.

    Also, Am I the only one old enough here to remember watching WKRP in Cincinnati?

  38. Congratulations! The best thing about radio? Showing up to work in a sweat shirt and comfy pants. Enjoy!

  40. Congratulations to the two of you. You are a great combination. Supporting each other through thick and thin. Seems you both have a good moral compass that keeps each of you focused on what is important and the value and long range benefits of treating people right. May you have many more successful and loving years together.

  41. The only interaction I’ve ever had with Lucy lead me to believe that she is uncommonly kind. I am happy to hear this great news.

  44. I am a big fan of NPR…so…A Huge Mazel TOV to Miss Lucy!!! Wish you all the best on the new show!

  45. Lucy is easily one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. Naturally funny. I’ve not spent a lot of time with her but I look forward to it…..(Chris is pretty damn funny too). Congratulations.

  47. ​A friend and I were talking about this and she said, “I think that position is the best job in journalism in this town,” and I agreed, and then we both agreed Lucy is the best person for it. This is so well deserved and for those of us who are local, we are all so lucky for it. Congrats, Lucy!

  49. Congratulations, Lucy May! I cannot say how many how many boards planed and dovetails I’ve sawn while listening to NPR. When her stories make it to WKYU in Bowling Green my shop will be a total Schwartzfest! Three cheers for well-researched Journalism!

  51. COOL!! Behind every great anarchist. . . stands a ferocious baby-hippo-loving journalist with integrity and an incredibly warm smile.

    Congrats to you both and I suspect she is overqualified to run the place. NPR is fantastic! And it just got better!!

  52. Bravo, Lucy!!
    Congratulations! I love NPR and listen in, every day, in Baltimore.
    Great post, Christopher! Congrats to you, too!
    Craig

  54. A moral ethical person working for a moral ethical broadcaster. Congratulations and Hooray.

    And if you want a topic that is worth long term investigation: the media itself and how we provide a foundation of trust in mass media. Start with the BBC 2004 Reith Lecture by Onora O’Neill titled a Question of Trust and you’ll be on the right track. But i suspect i’m not telling an NPR person anything they don’t already know. Congratulations.

  55. Congratulations Lucy!
    I love couples that really support each other through life and it seems like you guys have that nailed.

  59. Both parts of a pair of scissors have to be as sharp as you and Lucy. The new job sounds like a shear delight. Congrats Lucy!

  60. Well done, Lucy! I’m going to see if I can tune in somehow from Ireland.

  61. This is the best news that I have heard in quite some time. Well done, Lucy! Congratulations and best wishes for your new adventure.

  66. Awesome, congratulations! I hope to hear Lucy on sister station WHYY someday, I’ll keep my ears open!
    (* Although if she has been a guest, maybe I already have, and didn’t even realize it.)

    (** And I’m sorry, Chris, that you had to end that very positive post by having to post a warning about nasty comments. This is why we can never have nice things. I’m glad that you don’t feed the trolls.)

  69. As an NPR fanatic and sustainer, I couldn’t be more impressed. WUOM Ann Arbor has Stateside. Most media is like the “tool shaped objects” you write about. NPR’s local/regional journalism is the essential tools.

  72. Congratulations! Thanks for sharing. Reading this blog has made me an even bigger fan of Lost Art Press — which I didn’t think was possible!

  76. Congratulations, Ms. May! You can bet I’ll be tuning in on the 24th just as I do most mornings, already!
    – Proud sustaining member of WVXU since 2015

  79. Wow, Christopher. This is so sweet. It was a no-brainer to encourage you to start Lost Art Press because I’m your biggest fan, too. And I sure wouldn’t be where I am today without your love, support and encouragement. Thank you for the kind words and thank you to everyone who left a comment. I’ll try not to screw this up.

  80. Congratulations, Lucy! This gives me yet another reason to donate to Cincinnati Public Radio. I’ll be listening!

  81. Ahh, behind every successful man there is a tolerant woman, or at least that’s what my wife tells me!! Congratulations Lucy.

  82. Oh yeah, and congratulations to Chris for marrying above himself! Doing so is at the top of my list of what I have done right in my life, as it is for several other of my smartest male friends. Just chalked up 53 years of marriage a week ago.

  83. As a long-long-time NPR nerd, I offer my congratulations on landing the job and good wishes for the future.

  85. Warm words of felicitation to both of you are clearly due here on so many levels, although there’s not much I think I could add to what has already been very well said by numerous previous commenters, so please just let me add my voice to the choir of sincere congratulations to you, Lucy, on landing what indeed is a most amazing new job!

  86. It’s a beautiful thing to be in awe of your somebody. I too am a blessed man for having chosen mine and she, me. She too is a force of nature not to be denied nor ignored. To do so is to deny oneself an opportunity to bask in her humility, kindness and good humor. Her patients follow her. The woman has never ever had to look for a job or a step up in her career. She just does the work and they come. Amazing.

  87. Every time I read more about the life you are building around your philosophy the happier I am to have found my way to your content. Thank you for broadcasting to us all and thank you to Lucy for bringing what sounds like an honest and kind voice to the news.

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