Stories from the Front Lines

AWC member Marilyn Ebersole has many stories to tell from her long career. When you graduate from Journalism School, you just never know where your journey will take you!

When Opportunity Knocks

“When I graduated from the KU School of Journalism.” says Marilyn, “there were cross-ownership restrictions in which newspapers could not own tv stations. So the KC Star had to give up their WDAF TV station. WDAF was hiring a whole new staff so I applied even though I had only watched TV when KU played basketball. My small Western Kansas town was unable to get television at that time. I was hired to write scripts for a couple of the local TV programs. I wrote toe tapping, knee slapping good time scripts for Jimmy Dallas and his country music time (square dancing) and Katz Drugs teen time.

Everything You Want to Know About Dill…

A couple of years later, I moved from Kansas City and didn’t return until 1974 when I, again, was looking for a job. Few people know that Bon Appetit magazine was founded in Kansas City in 1946 by the publisher of Bank News. Although I had never done any cuisine writing, I applied and was hired by the editorial staff to write answers for the Letters section and write a monthly column, “What did you want to know about Dill (and other spices) but were afraid to ask?” Many people around the country who visited Kansas City knew Bon Appetit headquarters were near the Plaza and would call us for a tour of our kitchen. We didn’t want visitors because we only had a microwave, a fridge and a coffee pot. Most of the recipes published were never tested before publication. The magazine was later sold to Architectural Digest in California and we all lost our jobs. I went from writing about souffles to writing for a vet magazine i.e. fertility drugs for Beef and Dairy Cattle, before joining VFW Auxiliary magazine as its national editor.”

Do Your Research

“For 16 years I was editor in chief of the national VFW Auxiliary magazine with its 800,000 members. I thought it was important to include member profiles in each issue. One year, a New Mexico Department state officer told me that one of their state officers wouldn’t be attending the annual national VFW convention because she would be receiving a Purple Heart at that time from Gov. Reagan. She was the first WWII WAC to receive the honor.

“I called the woman – at that time we had no Google or e-mail – to get the details. She told me she’d call me back because her husband was home and he didn’t like to hear her experience. She did return the call and told me she had been injured when she was in prison on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during WW2. I called the White House PR and they had no information about the award … anyway, the president was on vacation in California. I called the woman again (her name was Philamene) and asked if I could visit with a member of her family and would she send me a picture of her in her WAC uniform. She said she was an only child and had no relatives. Also, her home in Texas where she grew up had burned to the ground and there were no pictures. I went to the library to read about the prison in Corregidor, then wrote an article about Philamene. Months after the article appeared in the magazine I got a telephone call from the Pentagon regarding the article. I was told there was no truth about Philamene receiving the Purple Heart from the president. I called the New Mexico president and she told me Philamene was known for exaggeration because she had a severe Inferiority complex — always telling stories about herself. I did not print a correction to the article in the magazine but I learned that if the information sounded TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, it probably wasn’t true.”

About Marilyn Ebersole

Marilyn Ebersole grew up in Hays, Kansas. She holds a Bachelors degree in Journalism from the University of Kansas, and a Masters degree in English from Fort Hays State University in Kansas. Her various jobs are outlined in her “Behind the Scenes” story. She spent her last 16 years of employment as Editor in Chief for the national VFW Ladies Auxiliary Magazine, which sent her around the country in pursuit of special-interest stories, including several years of attending the Statue of Liberty Anniversary Celebration. A long-time AWC member, Marilyn is retired and living in the Kansas City area.