quotes to live by
J u dy M ag g i o , Moderator AW cover woman, Oct. 2003
“Music is the universal language of mankind.” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Voted Best News Anchor for eight years by Austin Chronicle readers, Judy Maggio will serve as moderator for the panel discussion at AW’s 11th anniversary event, a role she looks forward to every year. With 32 years of experience delivering the news, Maggio currently anchors for KEYE-TV and has skillfully interviewed the likes of Willie Nelson, Peter Jennings and Lady Bird Johnson, to name a few. Maggio is also a dedicated humanitarian, and shares her latest philanthropic efforts, personal triumphs and work undertakings. Austin Woman: Why did you select this quote? Judy Maggio: I’m a big believer in the healing power of music. It inspires, relaxes and strengthens the mind. If you want to witness the healing power of music, visit an Alzheimer’s home. When my mother had Alzheimer’s, she never lost the gift of music. She remembered the lyrics and tunes to every song she ever learned until the day she died. In the last six months, I discovered a gentleman who sings at nursing and Alzheimer’s homes in his spare time. I auditioned for him. Now I sing once or twice a month at different adult care centers. [Through this experience], I’ve learned about the universal language of music and how wonderful it is, how healing and therapeutic it can be. It just makes people happy. AW: Why did you pursue singing at adult care facilities? JM: It’s outside my comfort zone. I hadn’t sung in public in decades. Now that I’m in my 50s, I wanted to try it. You need to keep your mind fresh and your heart open and try new things as you get older. I thought this would be something for me to jump out of my comfort zone and bring me joy. I have some selfish reasons because I get so much out of it when older people come up and sing with me and hug me, and tell me that I’ve made their day. I remember how much joy it would bring my mom when singers would come to her Alzheimer’s home. I’m kind of returning the favor to the people who are still with us.
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AW: What’s new at KEYE? JM: It’s been a transitional time because my longtime co-anchor, Ron Oliveira, is no longer at the station. I anchored for three months by myself, which was exhausting and challenging. Now they’ve hired Walt Maciborski, who was [previously] at KVUE with me. We’re enjoying anchoring together again and renewing our friendship. You really have to depend on your anchoring partner and trust them, and I’ve been very blessed to have great co-anchors who are like brothers to me. AW: What is your greatest reward in what you do as a news anchor? Greatest challenge? JM: I love meeting people from all walks of life, and finding out about their lives, what makes them tick, what brings them joy. It’s the best part of journalism for me. The greatest challenge is keeping it fresh…continuing to embrace new technologies, new ideas, new people and different ways of doing things. You can get in ruts when you’ve been doing something for so long; it almost becomes a formula. I try to not make it a formula and to think of ways to challenge myself and keep updated. We’ve had to embrace Facebook and Twitter and social media. Five years ago I would’ve gone, “What? I have to Facebook every day? I have to Tweet out stories? What the heck does that mean?” So it’s keeping things interesting, keeping it new. That’s always a challenge when you’ve been in a profession for a long time.