Where Few Women
Have Gone Before
A Detroit native meets rock stars and hockey players
in her role as midday radio jock.
LYNNE MEREDITH COHN
StaffWriter
K, so she nabbed my dream
'ob. The NHL's first female
public address announcer
who happened to attend
Akiva Hebrew Day School? Come on
— things like that don't happen to
nice Jewish girls.
In the case of Sari Zalesin, 32, they
do.
Known only as Sari on Chicago
radio, she faced a lot of disparaging
male opinions when she was a PA
announcer. Too bad for them, 'cause
now she's the midday voice on the
Loop, (Chicago's WLUP 97.9 FM).
Sari has spent most of her life in
the public eye. A competitive figure
skater from age 3 until college, she has
moved around the country, ascending
the ranks of radio.
Raised in a traditional Jewish fami-
ly, Sari has always wanted to be a per-
former. As a little girl, she "fell in
love" with the Ice Capades, "because
all the girls looked so pretty." Sari
danced, played piano, sketched and
drew, and only stopped skating for
school — "education was more impor-
tant to my family."
The Zalesins — father, Harvey, an
oral surgeon; mother, Anita; and
brother, Lorne — celebrated all the
holidays and Shabbat. Every fall, you'd
find a sukkah in their backyard.
"Family is the most important
thing to me," says Sari, who comes
home for the holidays, "no matter
what."
A graduate of Akiva Hebrew Day
School, Southfield-Lathrup and Specs
Howard School of Broadcast Arts
(with a stint at the private, all-female
Stephens College in Columbia, Mo.),
Sari says she wouldn't be where she is
today without her Specs mentors
(Dick Kernen and fellow B'nai
David member "Specs Howard"
a.k.a Julian Liebman).
Sari holds a deep connection to
Judaism. "I've made it important to
keep it safe with me. I know what the
traditions are, the values — in this
business it's very hard to keep that in
perspective. I've noticed that not
many people [in the media] hold their
religion close. I seem to do that — a
lot has to do with my family, Akiva,
realizing what it means to be Jewish
— I don't think a lot of people have
really had in-depth Jewish training."
And while she lives away, Sari has a
Detroiter's appreciation for hockey.
Her NHL spot happened while she
was spinning records in Dallas.
"It was really kind of a shock when
I got the job as the first female public
address announcer, really a fluke ...
Jim Lites and Jeff Kogen came down
to Dallas to start the Dallas Stars —
we had never had an NHL team in
Dallas ... I saw their pictures in the
paper ... called them. I had done pro-
motions with them at Joe Louis when
.
Above:
Sari, live on the Loop,
midday radio jock in
Chicago.
Right: Hangin' with the
big names: Sari, Sammy
Hagar and Ken Williams
(MCA Records).
I worked at WRIF in Detroit, and
they were talking to me about [coach-
ing] a skating routine in-between the
periods."
Instead, they asked her to audition
for the PA part, because "I was the
only one who knew about hockey
down there, they were all
Southerners." The arena didn't even
have ice yet. They "stuck a micro-
phone in the middle of the arena and
said, 'Go ahead, do something."
She was hired "on the spot."
But it wasn't all easy. The morning
after her debut, Sari tuned to a sports
radio talk show. Big mistake.
"They were slamming me — by the
time I got to work I
was in tears," recalls
Sari. She realized that
"they didn't hate me,"
but it was a shakeup to
have a woman announc-
er in the South, "where
[the view is that] women
should be barefoot and
pregnant."
"You have to be a very
strong, self-confident, self-
motivated person to do
what I do, you have to take
a lot of rejection, a lot of
resentment from people
who are very jealous of you
and remember, there are
2,000 people in line who
want your job."
Plus, it's hard to
date, "because a lot
of guys are too
impressed with
what I do, and
that's a real turn-
off. I've been so
career-focused, it's
been hard to have
relationships, moving
all the time. What man
is going to pick up and leave
his corporate job for a disc jockey who
could lose her job in a year?"
Still, Sari's "looking for somebody
special, who understands what I do for
a living and doesn't get crazy that I
hang out with rock bands." And big
stars. Her Pave? Walter Cronkite. Of
course, she's met the journalistic leg-
end, who "blew me away, I just
admire him so much, an incredible
man, what he's accomplished, just to
stand around him, you can feel his
presence."
Someday, we'll be saying that about
Sari.
Happenings
September
FRIDAY, SEPT. 12
Relationships in the `90s, at the singles
Shabbat service. 7 p.m. At
Congregation Shaarey Zedek-B'nai
Israel Center in West Bloomfield.
Panelists include Rabbi Leonardo
Bitran, social
worker Ellen Yashinsky, and clinical
audiologist, Alissa Pianin.
For information, call Kari Grosinger,
(248) 642-4260, Ext. 241.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 13
Annual Jazz Dinner Party, B'nai
B'rith Leadership Network. 7:30-
midnight. Live jazz, dinner, open
bar and a 50/50 raffle. Cost: $10
members, $17 non-members. At the
Potomac Club on Farmington
Road north of Maple. For informa-
tion, call the hotline, (248) 788-
NEWS.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 14
JEMS — Jewish singles, 30+, program
featuring Jeffrey Zaslow, syndicated
advice columnist. 7 p.m. At Temple
Israel. Sponsored by JEMS (Jews who
Enjoy Mingling and Schmoozing).
For information, call Boomi
Silverman, (248) 661-5700.
Jewish Professional Singles and Ann
Arbor Sunday Schmoozers. 11:30
a.m., second floor. For information,
call (248) 988-1300.
Brunch at Zanzibar Restaurant with
The Jewish Experience in Film, discus-
MONDAY, SEPT. 15
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