“KCCK is a resource that has been there my entire adult life,” says Peg Dana. She began listening in 1973 as an undergrad at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon. Her future husband, the late Robert Dana, introduced her to both KCCK and the larger world of jazz.
“Bob loved jazz,” says Peg. “He could hear a song and know who was singing or who was playing. A song would start and he’d say, ‘Oh, that’s Anita O’Day!’” She enjoyed Bob’s passion for jazz and his desire to share that passion with his wife. Peg remembers Bob listening to a Cleo Laine song and urging her, “You gotta listen to this!” They eventually saw Cleo Laine perform twice – once in Chicago and once in London.
She and Bob (an Iowa Poet Laureate) traveled the world, from Africa to China. “We were always going somewhere.” Their mutual loves of travel and jazz went hand-in-hand. It opened their ears to other great singers, like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, and such stellar players as Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Coleman Hawkins, and Teddy Wilson.
But it was Sundays at home with Iowa’s Jazz Station that have always been special for Peg. Those were days for reading, cooking, or planning the next adventure – often with KCCK in the background. Pressed to name a favorite KCCK show, she mentions Bob Naujoks and Gentle Jazz. “I could listen to him all day, any time,” she says.
She remembers one Sunday when she and Bob were sitting on the porch, drinking their morning coffee, and listening to a song by Jane Monheit. They were so impressed by her singing that they booked tickets to her upcoming show in Cedar Rapids.
Peg has been a KCCK donor “longer than I can remember.” Our records go back to about 1989, and her name is there, which makes her a member of a loyal group who have donated every year for more than three decades.
She retired in 2014 and has since remarried to retired nurse and acclaimed visual artist Rolland Guild. Rolland shares her love of jazz and is by Peg’s side at KCCK events like the Iowa City Jazz Festival, Jazz Under the Stars, and First Friday Jazz.
And, of course, quiet Sundays listening to the radio.