On the Radio: Dr. Laura's one-woman show comes to Riverside

by Gary Lycan
Radio columnist
Special to the Orange County Register
July 2
glycan@link.freedom.com

"Go do the right thing. Not the expedient thing."

That's one of the winning messages KFI/640 AM's Dr. Laura Schlessinger has been telling callers for years, and if one lives or dies by the ratings, Dr. Laura will outlive us all.

Locally, her noon-3 p.m. weekday rating among persons age 25-54 jumped 36 percent from last year. She beats her competitor, KABC-AM's Sean Hannity, by almost 200 percent and she also beat Rush Limbaugh (9 a.m.-noon) on KFI by 42 percent.

Catch her show and you understand why. At a youthful-looking 61, she sounds at the top of her game because, basically, while others in radio tend to talk louder and interrupt guests, she listens and when she responds, she's clear, concise and informative in a way that engages the audience.

So many other national talk hosts make you want to yell back at the radio. With Dr. Laura, you process and learn. "Everything has balance, and the balance is responsibility," she said in a phone interview.

We'll have more of the Dr. Laura story next week. But if you want to see her in person, she will present her one-woman stage show Saturday, July 12, at 8 p.m. in the Riverside Municipal Auditorium, 3485 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside. Ticket info: box office noon-6 p.m. weekdays (951) 788-3944. Or go to riversidemunicipalauditorium.com or ticketmaster.com.

"The theater audience pretty much mirrors my demos. It seems to cover the gamut. I get 8-year-olds and 71-year-olds. It is usually about 45 percent men, 55 percent women," she said.

"When I do the book signings, one on one, people come and tell me their stories. I come out of there humble. I come out of the theater production higher than a kite. There is so much adrenalin," she said.

Next week: Dr. Laura covers topics A to Z.

DR.AURA IS HEARD IN SOUTHWEST BC/NORTHWEST WASHINGTON 12-3 pm ON AM 1410.