UP CLOSE

Ellen McCarty

When does your term expire? I’ve worked for KOCE for 19 years. I’ll

probably retire in 2002.

Family status: I was married for 48 years to Ken Caines, who passed away

last year.

Age: 70

Education: B.A. in Speech, English and Drama from N.Y.U., graduate work

at UC Irvine.

Past offices held: Vice president, California Public Television/Radio

Assn., Families and Communities Together of Orange County, State

Superintendent of Education Advisory Council on Black Affairs

Present occupation: Director of Community and Government Relations and

Outreach for KOCE-TV, Orange County Public Television

Explain your job in 15 words or less: Maintain contacts, relationships

and outreach with a full range of community-based, governmental and

corporate agencies and organizations.

Your greatest achievement: Raising three children, Chris, Clarke and

Leslie, who have become wonderful adults.

Personal motto: “Life is like a tennis game. Can’t win unless you serve.”

Your greatest extravagance: My five grandchildren.

What cassette or compact disc is in your car right now? Nat King Cole

Your most treasured possession: My wedding ring.

What can you cook? Everything! I love to cook! I have five chefs in my

family and my parents owned a restaurant.

A habit you wish you could control: Saving almost everything.

The college major you almost chose: Journalism

Your last charitable act: Paid for a volunteer’s parking citation without

him knowing about it.

As a child, what did schoolmates tease you about? Being good at so many

things. I was a good student, a good athlete, a good singer and a good

debater.

What is in your car trunk right now? It’s full! Brochures, KOCE info, a

pillow, slippers, sweater and shoes I must return to the store.

The first thing that attracted you to your partner or spouse: He was

handsome and kind of cute at the same time.

The worst idea you ever had: Trying to logically change an

ultra-conservative person’s mind.

What would you have been voted in high school? Miss Personality, Miss

Determination

Who are your heroes? My mom (Elizabeth Robinson), Elenne Roosevelt,

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.

Favorite escape from reality: Music from the ‘40s and ‘50s, and classical

music.

One thing you would change about the world if you could: That we would

all consider ourselves as one race, the human race, with individual

attributes, skin color, eyes, size, gender and age that enhance and

enrich each of us.

Your idea of exercise: Bike riding.

What do you dislike most about your appearance? At the present, I’m too

heavy for my height.

Phone or address where people can reach you: (714) 895-5623