MARY LUCIA RETURNS TO “89.3 THE CURRENT” NOVEMBER 9th

After a hiatus of seven months, Mary Lucia is returning to her shift at 89.3 The Current. As we reported in August [link], Lucia was the victim of a stalker. The perpetrator pleaded guilty in late August to felony stalking and terroristic threats. Before sentencing, the felon (who we are not naming) is undergoing a mental competency hearing in December. Meanwhile, he remains in jail.

According to published court records, the stalking started in 2014 after Lucia sent a sympathetic e-mail to a listener who wrote grieving about his dead dog. The stalker then sent Lucia almost daily e-mails, made numerous phone calls and sent flowers, sausages, candy and a picture of a picture of himself wearing a mask. He ignored restraining orders and kept coming to Lucia’s home leaving bottles of wine, books and notes.

Lucia had hoped to return to the air much sooner but the harassment and legal wrangling took much longer than expected. Now more comfortable about her safety, Lucia announced her return in a letter to listeners:

MARY LUCIA Photo Credit: Star-Tribune

As many of you know, I took a leave from work in April to deal with an ongoing stalker that has turned my world upside down for nearly two years.

After multiple trial postponements and legal curve balls of which I have no control, I'm a little heartbroken to say this has gotten far more complicated than I could've imagined. Thus, it is still ongoing. Because of that, I can't really talk about the case. Man, silence is not always golden nor empowering.



I can say that I don't think I've worked harder in my life than in these last six months.
I've never been a "Why me?" person. In fact, if anything, I'm a "Why NOT me?" type. What makes me so damn special that horrid things shouldn't happen to me? Believe me, I've never lost perspective that someone always has it worse than me. How you deal with this trauma is what is important. Character building and all that crap.
 

Mary Lucia with pals Lefty & Crash Photo by Shelly Mosman

I've realized I'm strong, but I'm not that strong. I've needed help and still do in order to be the person I know I am capable of being.

I've been on a never-ending quest for inspiration. In my time away, I've consumed books like air as that is as close to meditation as I can get. I will always be interested in other people's stories. All nonfiction. Biographies of people who are creative and somewhere along the line got the stuffing knocked out of them, maybe fell from grace but found a way to creatively reinvent themselves. Throw in an insane upbringing and inevitable chemical-dependency problems and you've got me hooked!

I won't lie, I've been knocked around quite a bit and been forced to accept things I still find unacceptable. I've felt lost and powerless. But I've tried to keep a sense of curiosity about my life. Believe me, gallows humor doesn't hurt either. I've always said the day I stop finding humor in the darkness is the day I cash it in.

After much careful thought, even though this whole drama is far from being over, I'm returning to work and genuinely feel excited to reconnect with my buddies at The Current, and of course with you my friends, the listeners.

As Bob Plant said, "Been a long time since I rock and rolled."

Thanks as always for your kindness and thoughtfulness.
 --- Mary Lucia, November 2, 2015.

ONE OF MINNEAPOLIS' MOST INFLUENTIAL CURATORS & HOSTS

For years, the Twin Cities has been blessed with progressive rock radio tastemakers, helping create several potent music scenes. Mary Lucia is part of a long line of influential hosts including Tony Glover at KDWB; John Pete, Randi Kirschbaum and Allen Stone at KQRS; Kevin Cole at KJ-104 and others at REV 105.

In the early 1990s, heirs of the Cargill Foods family bought three struggling FM signals and brought them together the create REV 105.  Lucia joined Cole (now at KEXP), Brian Turner and others on the air at REV 105, one of the greatest commercial progressive rock stations in nation. REV 105 was sold in 1994 because hyper ownership consolidation drove the value of FM licenses sky high.

The spirit and fun of REV 105 lives on today at 89.3 The Current, particularly with Mary’s long-awaited return.

See the Star-Tribune coverage at [link].