Cyndi Lauper "All Through the Night"

With my full-time publishing job nearing its end in 2001, my boss at the radio station called me with an opportunity. Like the entire world around us, radio also changed after September 11, 2001 as music stations sought to provide more news to their listeners. Stations added hourly news updates, spearheaded volunteer and blood drives, and generally struggled with how to handle the grim mood of the country. At the station I worked, the morning show was music-intensive with very little talk, but the show also planned to boost their news coverage and needed help. They added the job as morning show producer and my name surfaced. My boss presented the opportunity to me during a quick phone call and stressed the importance of accepting it. I agreed and, for nearly four months, woke up at 3:40 A.M., worked at the radio station until 8:30 A.M., then went across Chicago to my full-time publishing job and worked until 4:30 P.M. On weekends, I also worked Saturday and Sunday 5-10 A.M. During these months, I did everything short of sleeping. I was a night owl and could never seem to adjust to my schedule.

My publishing job eventually moved to the suburbs, so I quit that job in early-2002 and joined the army of folks who woke up in the middle of the night to go to work. Each morning, I would take the first CTA Brown Line train of the morning and transfer to the Red Line where a train filled with drunks, homeless folks, third-shifters, and a half-eaten chicken dinner greeted me most mornings. For the next four years, I produced a handful of morning radio shows that lead me to one of the most unique positions I ever had in radio...