By Girindra Selleck
KXIC radio legend and former Daily Iowan Editor-in-Chief Dorothy “Dottie” Ray died at the age of 93, a report from the radio station said Tuesday.
The report did not list any further details regarding the circumstances of Ray’s death.
Ray, who had broadcasted her daily show from her living room since the 1950s, interviewed over 30,000 guests during her time on the air, talking with them about the latest arts and cultural events going on in the city at the time, an article from the Cedar Rapids Gazette, attached to KXIC’s release, reported.
In 1942, Ray assumed her position as the fourth female editor of The Daily Iowan, where she met—and hired—her future husband, Robert Ray, when he came in to complain about a story on the editorial page.
Ray was recently the subject of the documentary Staying Tuned: The Dottie Ray Story, which was screened at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts in June.
The Daily Iowan featured the documentary in an article published in June. The article reported that “Ray said she feels very lucky and privileged to have a film about her. She describes her accomplishments in journalism as ‘totally accidental’ but praises her time at the University of Iowa and the DI as her starting point.”
Through her many years on the air, she demonstrated an astounding ability to stay at the heart of the action. “The ripple effect that her show had is immeasurable,” Ray’s longtime colleague at KXIC, Jay Capron, said in the Daily Iowan article.
To many, Ray was an icon in the Iowa City community. Through her activism, philanthropy, and ceaseless thirst for culture, she acted as an inextinguishable inspiration to those around her.
“We know how sad the community is feeling,” a statement released by KXIC on Facebook this morning said, “But you know she would want everyone to have a ‘Happy Tuesday’.”