Story and Video By Caroline M. Tyler

Her picture still hangs on the wall, her soft eyes and unending smile shining over the pages of the family Bible below. Just past the Psalms and the 1921 baby grand is a four-level stereo tuned to classical music station KLRE. But if Mary Matthews were still alive, says her sister Minnie Carson, that radio would broadcast the news. Matthews read two newspapers daily before losing her vision in the late 1980s, but thanks to KUAR, her blindness couldn’t take her love of news.

“She was one of those people that read the newspaper… all the punctuation and everything,” Carson said. “Mary couldn’t do handiwork. She read – until she couldn’t. When that was taken away, all she could do was sit.”

But she didn’t sit in silence.

“She took to her recliner and listening to KUAR. She was up on everything, national and international,” Carson said, calling the UALR Public Radio and NPR station a “lifesaver” for Matthews.

That’s why Minnie and her husband Layne decided to give a financial gift to the stations that saved their dear sister, UALR’s KUAR FM 89.1 and KLRE Classical 90.5.

“I can’t think of anything that would be better,” Minnie said.

The gift will help fund UALR Public Radio’s move to a new tower and transmitter site, a project that will enable Mary Matthews’ favorite stations to reach more listeners across the state. The new tower on Little Rock’s Shinall Mountain will raise KUAR’s antenna about 300 feet and KLRE’s about 700, improving the current signals. Once the money is raised for the project, a fuzzy radio will be made clearer for thousands of Arkansans, including news-hungry listeners like Matthews.

Before her death in July, Matthews would anxiously repeat what she heard at the kitchen table, a table that the Carsons sometimes accidentally set for three. The trio, who lived under the same roof for more than 30 years, would discuss the current events, and the radio-enthusiast would recommend books reviewed on The Diane Rehm Show or  Fresh Air, two of her favorite programs.

“Mary would say, ‘Minnie, I’ve got a book you’ve got to read!'” Carson said, laughing. “Well, I have quite a library.”

And with the completion of the tower project, Matthews’ top-ranked programs and others can broadcast to a larger community.

“Not only will many folks have a much more reliable signal, but the more money the station can save on operational costs, the more we can spend on purchasing and developing the kind of programming that listeners have come to rely on,” said Ben Fry, UALR Public Radio’s general manager. “People like the Carsons will tell you how important public radio is to their lives and to the enrichment of our community. Public radio is a trusted source of news, providing in-depth coverage of issues important to our lives.”

As much as Matthews loved telling the news, the Carsons say that she was really a listener and an “extremely fine” social worker, devoting her life to helping people.

“She was in the military during World War II and did social work in Europe,” says Minnie, telling of her older sister’s days in the Women’s Army Corp. “She took her discharge over there and worked with young Jewish refugees, trying to find who they were, where they came from and if they had any relatives.”

After the war, Matthews worked in a variety of social work positions. When she moved to Little Rock in the late 1970s, she volunteered at the Parent Center, where she helped develop a program for incarcerated mothers. She was counseling families, couples, and individuals right up until her death at age 94. The Carsons occasionally still get phone calls from people she cared for.

Instead of an obituary, Minnie  proudly shows a 1994 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette people profile featuring her sister and honoring her for her selection as the Volunteer Social Worker of the Year.

“That was in the Sunday paper, the front page,” the little sister says, pointing to the five-column spread and color photograph laminated on black construction paper.

Matthews is quoted as saying, “I believe that people need to be involved with people.”

And that is what she did, Minnie says.

“Her interest was in people – always people. And this is what you get over at KUAR.”

And people, says Fry, keep the stations on the air. In fact, it was people like KATV president and general manager Dale Nicholson and Deltic Timber Corp. president and CEO Ray Dillon who approached Fry about the new tower project.

In January 2008, KATV’s broadcast tower in Redfield collapsed, leaving Nicholson on the hunt for a new tower location. After consulting with Dillon at Deltic Timber, which owns the land at Shinall Mountain, KATV found that one site was available, the site that had been surveyed by UALR Public Radio. Dillon suggested that KATV offer to provide free space to the university’s public radio stations on its new tower.

Fry was all ears, and in July, an agreement was made. KATV and Deltic Timber will give a 25-year waiver of normal lease fees to UALR Public Radio, a value of more than $80,000 a year for an in-kind contribution of $2.7 million.

“You won’t find many agreements like this between a commercial broadcaster and a public radio operation,” Fry said. “It shows a real commitment from KATV and from Deltic Timber to support this community. Without partners like these, public radio’s ability to grow would be severely limited.”

But with this tremendous growth comes additional needs. To improve its signal, increase transmitter reliability, and smooth the transition to the new site, UALR Public Radio will purchase a new transmitter for KLRE, which will broadcast both an analog and digital signal. The stations face additional costs for antennas, equipment, installation, engineering labor and more.

UALR Public Radio received a $75,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to assist in KLRE’s digital conversion, but it still needed to raise $200,000 more. So far, the station has raised $42,000.

“Listeners have always stepped up to the plate and supported public radio,” Fry said. “We’re asking listeners to help take us to the next stage of our development as a public radio operation, not just for themselves, but for all the listeners out there who depend on public radio for outstanding news and cultural programs. That’s what it’s all about for us anyway, serving the listeners the best way we can.”

For Mary Matthews, it served as her eyes to the world.

“There is no doubt in my mind that it would have been a difficult time for her if it were not for KUAR. Mary’s mind was clear right up ’til the end – just as clear as a bell,” Minnie says. “I’ve not been saddened, but I’ve missed her. It was the most beautiful passing of anybody I’ve ever been with. All of her wrinkles were gone and her face was round, her eyes were no longer cloudy.”

Much like her eyes appear in the picture, says the little sister, holding an eight by ten framed photo in her lap. Staring at the smile, Carson says, “she was beautiful” and hands the picture to her husband to put back up on the wall.

Matthews’ picture still hangs there, shining over the room. In the corner, the radio plays softly, reminding the Carsons that while her recliner is empty, her legacy lives on through the sounds of UALR Public Radio.