The inaugural show was set to be June 5. A week before that, George Floyd was murdered and our country said enough to police brutality. We pivoted the first show and talked to Sean Vinson, founder of Black Lives Matter of Jefferson County about how we can create change at a local level, and acknowledge the pains and cruelties of racism that continues to permeate our society.
The word of 2020 was “pivot” and, oh boy, did I pivot. I pivoted all over 2020, as did Filter.
The show was great. I hardly missed an episode until my mom died in a tragic accident on March 6, 2021.
I took a week off but then decided to process some grief through an episode of the show. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life, that March 19, 2021 episode. I played her favorite songs and the songs that remind me most of her.
Around the time of my mom’s death, I was granted split custody of my kiddos and this was some serious light in the darkness.
But as school time rolled around and Jo, my eldest, started in Kindergarten, I was suddenly unable to make certain Fridays work for the Filter time slot from 1-3pm. Our schedule quickly devolved into every other week. The quality of the show didn’t suffer in my opinion, but we all knew that the loss of consistency was not a benefit to KPTZ or the show itself.
So now in the beginning of 2022, I decided to put it to rest. It didn’t have anywhere near the 99 year lifespan I imagined it would. When it began, I thought I’d live in Port Townsend for the rest of my natural life! I have since moved to Kingston and Edmonds. I split time between the houses with kids and stepkids and lovely fiance Louisa Cranston (a frequent guest on the show). We are proudly bicoastal.
I hope I can do some more work in radio someday. I will still be subbing for KPTZ hosts from time to time, and maybe I’ll even do a special episode of Filter once in a while.
Being asked to create Filter was one of the greatest honors of my life. I don’t think I used even close to half of the ideas I had for it. There were some periods in its lifespan where it was one of the only things keeping my head afloat. And all of you there listening with me, you were a part of that.
Thank you for listening and stay tuned! -Paul
