Laura Ellen Hopper -- founded KFAT, KPIG
Edward Guthmann, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, June 8, 2007
Laura Ellen Hopper, a Santa Cruz radio personality who pioneered the "Americana" format of American roots music, has died from complications of lung cancer.
Ms. Hopper was 57 when she died May 28.
She founded alternative country station KFAT in Gilroy in 1975 and eclectic KPIG in Santa Cruz in 1988, and throughout her career retained a commitment to FM radio as a meeting ground for alternative ideas, music and community.
Ms. Hopper was the program director at KPIG, as well as being the midday DJ -- offering an eclectic mix of bluesmen, singer/songwriters, and folk, country and rock musicians. She championed such artists as Robert Earl Keen, Iris DeMent, Paul Thorn and Todd Snider, and seasoned the station's renegade, alt-music vibe with parodies of radio commercials and political sound bites.
Under her watch, KPIG also became the first radio station in the country to stream online at KPIG.com, beginning in 1995. The station is broadcast over 107.5 FM in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, and 1510 AM in the Bay Area.
"It was Laura's vision to keep FM radio in its purest form," said KPIG marketing manager Ed Monroe. "She wanted on-air personalities to really be on-air personalities -- to pick their own music and segue between songs that might be of different genres, but have similar lyrical content and a similar texture."
Ms. Hopper was "the glue that held the station together," said KPIG sales manager Travis Connell. "She was the leader without any doubt. She was very tough and really fought for the station against a lot of corporate owners over the years."
At one point, Monroe said, a former owner wanted to turn the station into a rock 'n' roll classics station with prerecorded playlists. Ms. Hopper stood up to him and, with the support of a large e-mail campaign by listeners, managed to protect her vision.
"She was small in stature but big in direction and big in focus," Monroe said. "She wouldn't back down from anyone."
Ms. Hopper was born in 1950 in Illinois and grew up in Webster Groves, Mo. She started her radio career in 1969 as a volunteer in St. Louis.
She is survived by her husband, Frank Capistra of Watsonville, who is KPIG's operations manager; daughter, Elsie Lansman of Watsonville, also a KPIG DJ; parents, Gordon and Dorothy Hopper of Las Cruces, N.M.; and four sisters.
This article appeared on page B - 6 of the San Francisco Chronicle
for those interested in learning more about the development of alt radio, see the links below:
http://www.ralphmag.org/BU/jeremy-lansman.html
http://ralphmag.org/orderradio.html
http://www.amazon.com/Radio-Papers-Kchu-Essays-Transmission-Twenty-Five/dp/0917320190
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