VOA's Fritzi Depew
My colleague Fritzi Depew started working for the Voice of America in 1966. Her long editorial tenure alone is noteworthy, but when you add daily cheerfulness and helpfulness to the package, well sports fans, you’re going to get a BIG Sonny Side of Sports salute!
Fritzi has taught and mentored some of VOA’s top correspondents, among them, Scott Bobb, Sonja Pace, Dan Robinson, Jim Malone, Scott Stearns and Jim Teeple. When those reporters come into our office, they always make a point to stop by and say hello to Fritzi.
Her fine editing touch is such that another colleague, Ashenafi
Fritzi Depew & Ashenafi Abedje
Abedje, when Fritzi is out of the office, will ask at our morning staff meeting, “Who will be Fritziing our scripts?” When you get a word named after you, sports fans, that’s quite an honor.
Barry Maughan
My former VOA colleague Barry Maughan worked with Fritzi for more than 20 years. ‘Da Ole Sports Emperor Barry, who had a royal reign on our VOA airwaves, describes Fritzi as skillful, ever-gracious, a guiding light and the heart and soul of VOA’s English to Africa Service. Yes, Fritzi is all that and more.
Here’s another Sonny Side of Sports salute coming your way, Fritz!
What a masterful and well-deserved tribute to our “mother of all staffers,” Sonnyman. It doesn’t even need to be Fritzied. As to you, Fritz — in the event you use your (barely) 45 years of service as an excuse to start contemplating retirement, the answer will be an absolute NO. Just keep Fritzi-ing our scripts and we’ll let you know when it’s time to throw in the towel. Anyway for now, Hearty congratulations Fritz on your more than four decades of outstanding service.
Incredibly upbeat, dedicated, talented, warm-hearted, with brilliant editorial skills—and that’s just from a friendship perspective! “Da Frizzelstix” and I have been friends for more years than she has been employed by VOA and have exchanged multitudes of correspondence in that time. So I think I can at least comment on her writing skills. In a word, they are wonderful. Always bright, gently but incisively inquiring, striving at all times for an accurate take on whatever situation we may be discussing—like favorite jewelry, clothing, books, comfort food, the people in our lives, the world situation…
I am honored to know the amazing woman whose name has now been introduced as a proper verb in VOA lingo. After 45 years of loyal and masterful service to an organization dedicated to communication, it seems only fitting that her tenure there would be Fritzi-fied in her honor.
Thank you for your comments, Patricia & Ashenafi. I can’t agree with you more.
Sporty regards,
Sonny
Not many know that Fritzi edits research proposals and manuscripts for nurses who work at a non-profit hospital in Massachusetts. So after a long day at the office Fritzi is known to dig into the writings of those who are, shall we say, better at patient care. Her charity work with these nurses earned her a coveted award – Friend of Nursing Research. This award was conferred at the hospital in the presence of her devoted writers and senior management. So there is another reason for celebrating our editor. She is truly the editor of us all!