Communiqué
Member Spotlight: Alan and Sue Boyd
< < Back to ?p=276334The Boyds have been members of WOUB since 1984
ATHENS, OH – Alan and Sue Boyd call themselves “public radio people.”
“We have always been that way. We have radios tuned to WOUB in almost every room of the house,” said Sue laughing.
The Boyds grew up in northeast Ohio. They came to Athens in 1979 after accepting positions at Ohio University. But before they came to Athens, the Boyds had already traveled the world and knew the importance of trusted media.
“We were Peace Corps volunteers. We spent two years in Ethiopia and two years in Kenya,” said Sue. “Being in countries like those shows you how American you are and how difficult democracy really is. We saw how much of what America does impacts people all over the world. For a democracy to succeed, you need an informed population that is willing to look at things from a lot of different angles. Black and white is never going to do it. There are a lot of gray areas with competing interests. Public radio brings in people with opposing viewpoints who are not yelling at each other.”
“WOUB and NPR are very reliable sources of information,” said Alan. “We listen all day every day. In addition to news, you also hear interviews with obscure kinds of people with events or experience you wouldn’t hear anywhere else.”
“Because of our international interest, we also really appreciate the BBC,” said Sue. “They cover things we don’t get in American press.”
The Boyds are now retired and enjoy volunteering in the community. They are involved with Rural Action, working to clean up the streams from acid mine drainage. They also love to garden and are members of Project Plant. In their free time, the Boyds enjoy singing, walking the dog, hanging out with friends, and watching Masterpiece on WOUB TV.
“We got turned on to Masterpiece in graduate school,” said Boyd. “Now, it’s our Sunday night thing.”
The Boyds also appreciate the local programming WOUB provides.
“I don’t always listen, but when I do turn on WOUB radio and hear the local music programming, I find it very enjoyable,” said Sue. “We also really enjoy the Our Town series on WOUB TV. It’s really interesting. You get a sense of the rhythm of history. Places in our region were once really thriving communities based on an industry or something that no longer exists.”
“WOUB is so important to this area,” said Alan. “It helps you realize that there are so many sides to an argument and that issues are so complex. They require a lot of thought, and WOUB provides the information needed to do that.”