MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | WINTER 2003

Marilyn Ebersole: Opening up the windows of her life

By Holly Bolton

When Marilyn Ebersole walks into a room, it's as if someone has opened a window and let in the sun and fresh air. Just the way Marilyn likes it. Marilyn often describes herself as very open, and now I understand why. Without hesitation, she opened up the windows of her life and allowed me a peek inside.

Marilyn grew up in Hays, Kansas, a small western farming community. Her taste for writing was fostered on the newspaper staff in high school. During that time she won a writing contest for Mademoiselle magazine, which further inspired her to pursue a communications career. She traveled to New York City to work with the Mademoiselle staff for a week. After high school Marilyn left Hays to attend Newcomb College at Tulane in New Orleans, then transferred to Kansas University her junior year. There, Marilyn earned her bachelor of science in journalism and a bachelor of arts in English. She was a member of Theta Sigma Phi (the forerunner of AWC) during her two years at KU.

After graduation Marilyn moved to Kansas City, where her first job was writing continuity for WDAF for $49 a week. One particular program she remembers writing was the script for Jimmy Dallas and His Country Music Show. She also edited Long Lines, an AT&T employee magazine.

On and off throughout her career, Marilyn stayed involved with Theta Sigma Phi. She was a member for a couple of years until she married and moved from the metro area. For the next 14 years, Marilyn raised three children, taught freshman English at a college for four years and earned a master's degree in 20th-century English literature.

"My reason for earning an advanced degree was not to improve my marketability, but to give me an excuse to get out of the house," Marilyn said.

Marilyn divorced when her children, Alec, Andy and Amy, were 11, 13 and 14 years old. She and the kids moved back to the Kansas City area, where she started a new life and "an eight-year odyssey" of trying to find her niche. During this period in her life beginning in the mid-'70s, she held at least a dozen jobs. One was at Hallmark, where she did research for ethnic cards. She had great benefits and enjoyed the work and the people, but there was a problem: There was no window in her office. "It was a funny priority," Marilyn said, but it was very important to her. It was a contributing factor in her decision to depart from the company.

Other jobs she had during that time included being an editorial writer for Bon Appetit magazine, the food and beverage director for Rockhill Tennis Club, a researcher for Hardee's, and a copywriter for Marion Merrell Dow and Bayer products.

"I was getting rather discouraged by this checkered career," Marilyn said.

The strangest job she remembers is developing a promotional dartboard, "Target on Breeding," which had the cycles of animals' fertility on the target. The darts came separately, one per product purchased.

Around the time she was working on that project, her youngest son, 19-year-old Alec, was killed in a car accident. That's when Marilyn dropped out of the workplace and decided it was time to get serious about what to do with the rest of her life. She attended a WICI meeting (the name had changed from Theta Sigma Phi) as a guest. Volunteers were being solicited to address and stuff envelopes for the annual Matrix Table event.

"I had plenty of time," Marilyn said. "Amy and Andy were away at college and I wasn't working full time, so I showed up at Ginzy Schaeffer's house on a Saturday morning to address envelopes."

Jeanette Pointon (now Jeanette Clark), a past president, was also volunteering and said there was a job opening for a writer at the VFW Auxiliary magazine. Marilyn was hired and became editor-in-chief a month later, succeeding Jeanette, who decided to retire.

"It was a very painless way to get to the top," Marilyn said. She was at the magazine for 15 years until she chose to take an early retirement at 11:59 p.m., December 31, 1999.

"I began a new millennium with a new life," Marilyn said. "Within weeks I'd purchased a new computer, hired a computer tutor and was editing, formatting and writing quarterly newsletters for two not-for-profits as an in-kind contribution. I knew the only way I'd learn graphics and Quark Xpress was to have a real project." Her computer tutor still comes to her house at least once a month to show her shortcuts and techniques to use on her newsletters.

"Although the newsletters take up a lot of time, they do afford me the opportunity to meet interesting people and conduct interviews with those I wouldn't know otherwise," Marilyn said.

Marilyn's favorite aspect of working in communications is interviewing people and talking one-on-one with them.

"I meet so many wonderful people."

Her least favorite aspect is deadlines.

"That's why I like newsletters," Marilyn said. She can work at her own pace and the deadlines aren't as strict as those she had to meet when she worked for the VFW.

Marilyn says she swore year after year that she'd never be president of the Kansas City chapter of Women in Communications.

"I saw myself as a good Indian (I have addressed envelopes, written the newsletter, organized programs, etc.), but never a Chief," she said. She finally accepted the nomination for 2001-02 president. "I realized it was time for me to really give back to the organization that had supported my career."

AWC's best "cheerleader," Marilyn is still very active in the organization. This year she is serving as deputy membership chairman.

"I am a strong proponent of the Kansas City chapter of Women in Communications," Marilyn said. I can't stress enough the opportunities AWC affords one for education, networking and business connections, as well as valuable friendships."

Marilyn said her perfect day would be reading a good book, then having a gourmet meal with friends, wine and ambience in the evening. That way, she gets the best of both worlds-solitude and interaction.

One small detail Marilyn left out of her description is something I know she would do—place her chair next to a window.