Page 26 - 914INC - Q3 - 2013

AGENDA
THE CORNER OFFICE
Story Lisa Arcella Photography John O’Donnell
Q3 2013
RADIO’S RENAISSANCE MAN
William O’Shaughnessy has spent more than 50 years broadcasting to Westchester County and isn’t planning to stop anytime soon.
WilliamO’Shaughnessyissiftingthoughapileofphotosand notes from his recent 75th birthday celebration at Le Cirque. He pulls out a lovely note of thanks from TV host Deborah Norville and then another from Jonathan Bush gushing about how fabulous the party was. Bush, the brother of President George H and Uncle of George W, wrote that O’Shaughnessy has been “a great friend to a lot of people and a great supporter of important causes.”
One of those “causes" included giving Bush’s son, Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush, his very first broad- casting job.
O’Shaughnessy is almost an iconic figure in the world of Westchester broadcasting. In the past 50 years, he has given voice to nearly every topic under the sun as the president and editorial director of WVOX and WVIP—two
of the last few independent radio sta- tions in the metropolitan area. From
an interview with a Franciscan friar discussing the meaning of char-
ity and Pope Francis to a weekly broadcast about heavy-metal music hosted by his eldest son, Matthew, O’Shaughnessy has continued to deliver what Daily News TV critic and entertainment columnist David Hinckley describes as a “glorious hodgepodge.” That hodgepodge includes listener- produced programming that O’Shaughnessy believes is part
of his ongoing mandate.
“I am an instrument of communication,” he explains. “I think you can build up a
community and make it better through radio. In Mario’s words, you can make it ‘sweeter.’”
wrote that, `Cuomo never gave a speech that did not glisten with the sweat of moral con- viction.’” He laughs. “That’s pretty heavy s*** to lie at the feet of Andrew Cuomo.” Still, O’Shaughnessy thinks New York’s cur- rent governor will one day be president of the United States and adds that he and Cuomo Sr. plan to stick around long enough to see it. “I think Andrew has the equipment and bright- ness to be a great president. There is an innate
goodness and decency in him.”
The admiration society certainly is mutual.
Mario gave the toast at the birthday celebration
and
has
24
Mario is Mario Cuomo.
though he is a self-described Rockefeller Republican, O’Shaughnessy is perhaps the former governor’s greatest fan. His office is sprinkled with photographs of himself with Cuomo and he even has the governor’s old “1” license plate from when he was in office, framed on his wall (he also has Nelson Rockefeller’s “1” plate). “In all the years I have been in this business and of all the people I have met and inter- viewed, Mario is the most compelling,” O’Shaughnessy says. “Kenneth Woodward
written the foreword to all four of O’Shaughnessy’s books. “Brother Bill’s been blessed with the great Gaelic gift of words, a sharp mind, deep con- viction, and the capacity for powerful advocacy,” Cuomo says. “He has been able to inspire the fainthearted, guide the eager, and charm almost everyone he’s met. And for the quarter of a cen- tury that I have known Bill, he has spent most of his time doing things he ought to have been doing—and enjoying it.” And he isn’t showing any signs of stopping. Relaxed with an open shirt, blue blazer, gray slacks and sockless loaf- ers, the snow-white-haired O’Shaughnessy looks as though he could be headed for a casual lunch poolside, but he is still report- ing to the job every day in his black Corvette with Lacey and Coco—his black and white cockapoos—by his side. Middle son David now runs the day-to-day operations (Matthew also works for the stations and daughter Kate, a psychotherapist, lives on the West Coast), but Bill actively pur- sues interviews and can often be
heardontheair.
Even