Philadelphia talk radio veteran Mary Mason died on July 25 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Mason, a.k.a. Beatrice Turner, was a pioneering talk host in the urban talk radio format when she transitioned from a Gospel music host – beginning in 1958 – to anchor of the “Mornings with Mary” program on WHAT, Philadelphia in 1970. Thera Martin was Mason’s former program director at WHAT and tells WPVI-TV, “Reverend Louise Williams Bishop and Mary Mason are the two African American women who really broke the barrier in Philadelphia radio for us to come behind them. People used to hang onto her every word, every morning, with her very popular radio show.” The story notes that “the show catapulted Mason’s career, leading her to interviews with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and Oprah.” See the WPVI-TV story here.
