Please join me in welcoming Lynn Fritz to A News Cafe today as we chat about her life, her history, her passions, her beliefs, her media work and her love of community service. We recently met in her downtown studio for an interview on her radio program, “Enjoy Exceptional Living”. In that interview we discussed, among other things, ANC’s history and the site’s pivot in a new direction. It dawned on me that she has done countless interviews asking guests questions about themselves, but it would be interesting to turn the tables and learn more about this fascinating community treasure. So here we are. Today, it’s all about Lynn Fritz. Enjoy!
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DONI: Hi, Lynn. Thanks for inviting me to your Enjoy Exceptional Living show last week. You always ask great questions, although I’m later horrified to recall how freely I spoke, because you’re easy to talk with, and I somehow forget it’s being recorded. Our conversation will air on KKRN again at 11 a.m. on Jan. 31, but you keep all the interviews in your archives, correct?
LYNN: Yes. People can listen to the program in archives after February 1 by going to www.KKRN.org, scrolling down and clicking on Enjoy Exceptional Living. A list of available programs are shown there.
DONI: Thanks. Lynn, for those who just arrived here and don’t know you, can you please describe who you are and what you do?
LYNN: I’m the producer and host of “Enjoy Exceptional Living” in partnership with Enjoy Magazine and KKRN 88.5 FM Community Radio.
I’ve been in private practice as a psychotherapist since 2002, and also serve as an expert witness in Indian Child Welfare. I am an ordained minister, a Karuk Tribal Descendant, Chair of Shasta Interfaith and a media consultant producer. I facilitate process groups, workshops, retreats and seminars on a variety of topics. I officiate at weddings, celebrations of life/memorials, and other sacred ceremonies.
DONI: Wow. You certainly spin a wide variety of plates. Impressive! Back to your radio program. What inspired you to start your Enjoy Exceptional Living program, and how did you come up with the title?
LYNN: My interest has always been to work and serve community. My mother was passionate about serving first her family and then larger community. She did it directly helping individuals and families who needed support. I felt Enjoy Magazine had a very like mission to mine. By working collaboratively, we both could extend our outreach to community.
“Enjoy Exceptional Living” radio program just celebrated 15 years. The title of the program comes from Enjoy, their part, and Exceptional Living, is my personal interest and intention with working with clients, to inspire exceptional living. So “Enjoy Exceptional Living” became the name of the program.
As I began my career as a psychotherapist, the demand was so great that I could not continue television and video production. In 2008, I met Enjoy Magazine when they did a feature article on the Park Marina Drive Round House where I was living at the time. I valued their professionalism, loved the magazine, their ethical standards and their interest in community. So I proposed a partnership where the radio programs would educate and promote good things in the community.
I have deeply valued their trust and the support our relationship has fostered through all the years.
We initially began with KLXR 1230 AM Commercial Radio, then moved to KFOI 90.9 FM Community Radio and are presently featured on KKRN 88.5 FM Community Radio. I hope to expand it to include podcasting in the near future.
DONI: What’s your studio setup like?
LYNN: In the past, KKRN had rented a space for a production studio. The station stays alive through donations. As donations declined, we began scouting around for a location to reduce costs. Nancy Hill, Executive Director, Shasta County Arts Council, in support of the arts, gave KKRN the space to set up the Redding production studio located at Old City Hall.
Like many nonprofit organizations, KKRN 88.5 FM Community Radio is dependent upon donations from the listeners to exist. KKRN is presently teetering on staying alive! I would be gravely saddened to see the station close due to lack of funding. All of us who work with Community Radio are volunteers. So I encourage the community to support community radio through the gift of a donation. No donation is too small!
Community radio is very unique because it invites people from the community to learn how to produce, host and present their own radio programs. I think it’s important to have an opportunity to use radio as a method to express ideas to larger community. It empowers community members!
DONI: You do wear so many hats. Can you describe them, and the kinds of things you do while wearing all those hats? Something I do know for sure is that if prizes were given for someone who sends out the most diverse array of email announcements about community events and concerns, you’d win.
LYNN: I believe media is a powerful resource and tool for building connections and relationships in community. Letting people know about things that are transpiring in community, increases access to resources, increases awareness and helps people discover ways to enhance their lives. So I decided one day to begin sharing local events and information with as many community organizations and individuals that I could. The purpose was to make connections, helping people connect with themselves, with others and with community. Being involved with community is an unique experience that we cannot access in any other way.
DONI: How did you find your way to Redding?
I relocated to Redding in about 1981 from Trinity County, as a transfer from Sierra Pacific in Hayfork. At the age of 20 years old, I was the Shipping Clerk tallying planer production, processing lumber shipments and tracking inventory. I served for about a year in the sales office of Sierra Pacific Industries as the Douglas Fir Sales Secretary, then became the Shipping Supervisor for a couple years. Later I spent a number of years working for Roseburg Forest Products. I was the Shipping Supervisor for the Roseburg Forest Products in Red Bluff when it closed, later moving to the Anderson plant where I served as an Assistant Shipping Supervisor and lastly, Inventory Controller, through the closure of Roseburg Forest Products plant in Anderson. During my time with Roseburg Forest Products, I made the decision to go to school and get a masters degree in counseling psychology so that I could open a counseling practice. While I was working with Roseburg Forest Products, I began working with Redding Community Access TV as a volunteer, learning video and television production.
After the closure of the Roseburg Forest Products plant in Anderson, I became employed with Viacom Cable TV serving as a producer of local commercials. Shortly thereafter, I became the Executive Director for Redding Community Access Corp (RCAC), the nonprofit organization that trained community members how to do video and television production. I served in the management of three television cable TV channels, government, education, and community access.
To facilitate and supplement my work income during the time that I served as the Executive Director of RCAC, I created Lynn Productions. I did grant funded projects for Shasta County Dept of Resource Management both in radio and television production. I also served as a media consultant to the McConnell Foundation for about 11 years. Their mission was to promote and highlight nonprofit organizations in their service area. I also served for seven years as a producer for the “Angle of Inspiration,” the video about the construction of the Sundial Bridge. I found working with the McConnell Foundation to be life affirming. Witnessing their dedication to helping to build better communities through philanthropy was moving and inspiring. I respect and value them so!
I have always had an interest in spirituality, exploring diverse traditions.
I have an extensive background in various Christian traditions, as well as non-Christian traditions. For a number of years, I was a member of Bethel Church, singing in the choir under the leadership of Rev Mark & Karen Holt. It was a very powerful life-altering healing experience that ultimately ushered me into a new directions in my life, including pursuing television and psychotherapy. I served as a volunteer video producer for many years with Iverna Tompkins Ministries, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Through RCAC I produced a number of Bethel’s Christmas cantatas for cable TV. I also helped them to create the visual presenters for the worship services and record Sunday services.
DONI: You work primarily in radio now, but you also have a rich television broadcast history, correct?
LYNN: I worked in community television, which is different than public TV. Community television’s mission was to empower individuals to learn to produce and present their own TV programs, giving them access and experience about the power and vital role media plays in our culture.
With RCAC and also as Lynn Productions, in addition to what I mentioned previously, I produced a number of TV series that included “Profiles of Faith”, “Profiles of Community Service”, “The Magic of the Forest”, 26 programs of a cancer support group, a number of programs on cancer, a Kathy Zavada Concert at Old City Hall, and other programs. I also produced for television, The Carole Sund Carrington Foundation TV program, the Redding Rodeo Parade, Kool April Nites and other projects. Funding for the work came from grants, the franchise agreement funding, and funding from various groups. I have had television programs featured on cable TV in Redding, on KIXE Channel 9, and on King TV in Placerville. I loved it all! And I miss it! That is what propelled me into doing a radio program. I needed to be out in conversation with community!
My original goal for learning video/television production was to do psychotherapy on television. That was before Dr Phil. Why? Psychotherapy brought such profound healing to my life that I wanted to open up like opportunities for others to experience such as well. Perhaps if they saw it wasn’t so scary, and processing personal trauma could produce healing, perhaps more people would pursue such.
DONI: You were ahead of your time, and it’s amazing how you were able to weave all your interests and talents together. Regarding radio and television interviews, do you have any clue how many you’ve conducted over the years?
LYNN: 15+ years of weekly programs with very few repeat broadcasts adds up to a few! In television production I spent more time as producer and director of the programs working with hosts for my programs, which included Andrea Golden Asebedo, Judy Salter, Shannon Phillips, and others.
DONI: I hate to put you on the spot, but do you have favorite interviews, I mean, aside from mine? {Joking. Just joking.} And/or how about most memorable?
LYNN: For radio interviews, the most profound radio interview I’ve ever done was with Lama Tsering Everest, resident lama and director, Changdud Gonpa Odsai Ling, San Paulo, Brazil. Formerly from the Buddhist Chagdud Gonpa, Junction City, California. She is a Buddhist teacher. The experience of being with her during the interview was most unique. I found myself so completely absorbed in our conversation that I was challenged with remembering it was a radio interview.
My No. 2 favorite radio interview was with Charlie Price. Such a soulful spiritual experience. One of my first interviews!
For video/television: The Sundial Bridge Project. I went weekly to the site and recorded progress. Frequently I met Marlys Barbosa, photographer, at the site. She and I flew a number of times to Vancouver, Washington, where the bridge was being fabricated. I interviewed various people involved in the project in various locations and settings. Marlys, photographer, Mickey Freeman, Director of Photography, a production assistant and I followed the transport of the bridge from Vancouver, Washington, to Redding, in an RV. We started late one night from Universal Structural Inc. in Vancouver, Washington, and traversed I-5 capturing the transport of the bridge to Redding. It was a remarkable challenge and exceptional experience.
Sometime later, Mickey, Marlys and I stood on the Marin Headlands recording the barge carrying other segments of the Sundial Bridged as it passed under the Golden Gate Bridge to a dock in the northern part of San Francisco Bay.
Serving on the Sundial Bridge project for seven years I witnessed the criticism the McConnell Foundation experienced. For 10 years, the time it took from commencement to the opening of the bridge, the McConnell Foundation underwent constant and unrelenting criticism. When the bridge opened, all that shifted. Suddenly, it became a community gathering place, central to community. For 10 years they held the vision and course to bring a unique gift to the community. I have deep respect and awe for such leadership and vision.
Their mission is “Helping Build Better Communities through Philanthropy” I am inspired by them!
DONI: That’s in incredible story about your documentation of the Sundial Bridge construction and installation. I can’t be the only one who would love to see that.
So subject change: Is there anyone you won’t interview?
LYNN: I don’t think so. I believe there is value and purpose in talking with everyone. I’ve had a person tell me they will not be interviewed by me. I was shocked to have someone say that to me.
I hold a great deal of value for respect. I can work with disagreements and opposing views being expressed. I think we need to listen to all thoughts and ideas, especially those we may disagree with because it is an opportunity to experience a differing perspective and perhaps learn something new. I would, however, chose not to remain in a shared space with someone volatile, aggressive or disrespectful.
DONI: That’s a good philosophy and policy. Makes sense. Of course, you know I’m dying to ask who said they wouldn’t be interviewed by you, but I won’t. (But I can guess at some contenders.)
Lynn, how does being a therapist fit into your work as an interviewer? I only ask because I swear that sometimes, during our conversations, I suddenly feel as if I’m in a therapy session, which may explain why I spill so much. I have a hunch I’m not alone.
LYNN: I am very blessed to have my diverse spiritual experiences background and interests, psychological training, lived experience of trauma and healing, and the media experience; they all play a role as I work with people in an interview process. While I may have a list of topics in mind or in front of me, the best is when connection is made and we are following the flow of the shared time. It is connecting in relationship in that moment that means the most. That is when the interview becomes something greater, bigger than just us sitting in that space and doing an interview.
DONI: Lynn, before I close, can you describe yourself –Lynn Fritz — who you are, your origins, and what’s important, fun and meaningful to you?
LYNN: Relationship and beauty are most important to me. I have relationship with Sacred Self, the Sacred in its endless expressions, friends, the rivers and trees, the starry skies, sacred silence, with those who have gone before me; my ancestors.
I look and listen for beauty. And my time at Bethel Church taught me how to connect with the Sacred in worship, which is an integral part of my life and who I am.
I am in pursuit of healing, connecting with the Sacred/Life. My intention is to be in the flow of the Sacred/Life, to listen deeply and sense what is transpiring, and my place in what is and in what is unfolding.
I was gifted with parents who were exceptional people. My mother was an artist in how she lived, in how she created in cooking, canning, sewing, baking, raising a family.
Lynn, age 5.
My mother was hard-working, kind, and people mattered to her. She served our family and community. My dad was the kindest, most gentle, hysterically funny and at times most stubborn person in the world. They were there for me even when I held them at arms length. Thank God we had enough time to connect deeply and to love deeply one another.
I had a second set of parents by choice/relationship. Don Babcock and Pat Gustafson. Pat was my person in the world. After her passing, I setup the Gustafson Fritz Scholarship for Women with the Community Foundation of the North State. Both of them were constant powerful forces for growth and healing in my life.
DONI: You’ve shared a lot! Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you?
LYNN: I have had many exceptional mentors. My parents, especially later in life, when I could receive what they had to offer.
I just reconnected with my 7th grade PE teacher. She would take me with her to spend time outside of school. The impact of her kindness has traveled with me throughout this lifetime. I had no contact with her after 7th grade until about two months ago when I wrote her a letter. She said to me, “I remember you too!”
And there’s Barbara Childers, LCSW, first college professor teaching “Understanding Human Behavior” who said to me, “I think you are called to this field.” I had no concept of what she saw in me.
Iverna Tompkins, minister, trained in counseling psychology, was my spiritual mentor until her passing in December 2024. After her passing, she came to me and said, “I’m always with you.”
People I admire: Dolly Parton – OMG is she not beyond words?! And the Dali Lama who says, “My religion is kindness…” The Whirling Dervish!
My intention is to live and be engaged in life, like Jane Goodall.
DONI: Thank you, Lynn! I knew you were complex, but had no idea about the depths of your life, your interests, your beliefs and your passions. I appreciate you taking the time to share yourself with us here at A News Cafe, and I am so extremely grateful to you for the work you do to make the North State a better place. We truly are fortunate to have you.
LYNN: Now, aren’t you sorry you asked!! You struck a vein! Hit a well spring! I am grateful you asked, because it caused me to reflect, listen, feel and appreciate. I have had so many exceptional experiences. At one point I made a bargain with God and said, “If I’m going to be here, you must teach me how to live well.”
I enjoy you, too, my friend! Keep up YOUR GOOD WORK.
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