Karen Massey

Karen Massey was a young British girl who came to the United States alone on holiday in 1970 and never returned to England. After traveling around the country in a Greyhound bus, she got on the wrong bus and found herself in San Antonio. She started working as a cocktail waitress at the S-W-C Club where her British micro-miniskirt was very popular with the clientele.

One of the club’s regulars was KITE radio’s Paul Allen English who enjoyed the constant banter between Karen and bartender Tiny Walls. Paul thought banter like that would go well with KITE DJ Tom East, so he offered her a job and gave her a new name … Duckie!

The Tom and Duckie Show aired on KITE for two years and included many live promotions. One of the first proved a real challenge for Duckie. The idea was to attach a large swing to a billboard and hoist girls up there to “Swing to KITE”. Some of the girls dropped out, but Duckie, who was deathly afraid of heights, was also determined to honor her commitment to Paul English. So, she rode the swing while doing phone-ins with Tom, who was safely back in the control room.

In 1973, Duckie moved to KBUC Radio where she worked in sales and as a roving news reporter. At one major City event that all the stations were covering, Duckie was the only female among the reporters. Which worked to her advantage when she got an exclusive interview with Mayor Lila Cockrell in the ladies’ room…complete with flushing toilets in the background!

Duckie was on-the-air at KONO four times between 1983 and 1990, often broadcasting on-location from the KONO Alamo-mobile. Between her KONO gigs, she also worked part-time at KZEP and Y-100.

Duckie’s proudest accomplishment was the formation of Citizens Helping All People Serve while working at KLAR in Laredo. With the help of her work at numerous fundraisers, within one year of their formation, the group was able to add air conditioning to Sacred Heart Children’s Home, the church and the Nuns’ quarters.