Connie Szerszen is an American female radio personality. Szerszen is a native

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

an of Polish ancestry. While she was talent coordinator at WCFL, Szerszen was discovered by air personality Penny Lane, who called WCFL one day and soon talked Szerszen into auditioning as a disc jockey for WSDM-FM, "The Station With the Girls and All That Jazz--Smack Dab in the Middle". In October 1969, Szerszen started her broadcasting career at WSDM-FM. Her radio name was ''Den Pal Dawn'' where she featured "The Bachelor Boy Household Hint of the Day" and celebrity gossip between songs. She eventually did the morning show before leaving for

WIND (AM) WIND (560 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and broadcasting a conservative talk radio format. It is owned by the Salem Media Group with studios on NW Point Boulevard in Elk Grove Village. WIND is powered at ...

. On Christmas Day, 1971, Connie started DJing at WIND and did irregular shifts for the station. (''Chicago Daily News'', Norman Mark, April 12, 1972) In March 1974, Szerszen became America's first female rock jock to have her own PRIME TIME program on AM radio in a major market as announced in a WIND press release in March 1974. (Original press release is pictured in her memoir, ''Top Rock Girly Jock--A Chicago Radio First!'') That was 6-10 PM as a D.J. on WIND in Chicago, a popular AM station then owned by

Westinghouse Broadcasting The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndicat ...

, a/k/a Group W. Szerszen was entered into the U.S. Congressional Record for that achievement. The ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' ''Midwest Magazine'' made her a cover story, crediting her as "The Woman Who Invented Strip Radio." WBBM-TV in Chicago did a feature story on her show for its 5 PM newscast with

Bill Kurtis Bill Kurtis (born William Horton Kuretich; September 21, 1940), is an American television journalist, television producer, narrator, and news anchor. Kurtis was studying to become a lawyer in the 1960s, when he was asked to fill in on a tempora ...

on May 7, 1976 and broadcast on Channel 2 News in Chicago= Szerszen was also an on-air personality for several other Chicago stations, including WJMK,

WJEZ WJEZ (98.9 FM, "Classic Hits 98.9") is a radio station licensed to the community of Dwight, Illinois, United States, and serving the greater Livingston County, Illinois, area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and licensed to Cumulus Licensi ...

, WJJD, and

WUSN WUSN (99.5 FM) is a country radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Audacy, Inc. and branded as "US✶99", it is based at Two Prudential Plaza in the Loop, and transmits from atop the John Hancock Center with an HD Radio signal. History ...

"US-99." On August 13, 2005, Connie was also the 1st woman in America to broadcast "live" on an all-digital radio station, WJMK 104.3 HD2. She appeared on local TV shows and guest-hosted WCIU-TV's ''Kiddie-A-Go-Go ''in October 1970. When ABC7 was searching for a hostess for its daytime talk show, Program Manager Jeff McGrath interviewed Connie and viewed her guest appearance on the NBC show, ''Tilmon's Tempo'', with weather forecaster/pilot Jim Tilmon. (Photo from NBC "Christmas Show" in ''Top Rock Girly Jock--A Chicago Radio First'', p 204.) All went well, until he informed her at the end of the interview that they would also be talking to a woman from out of town named

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

. Connie lost out to Oprah. On June 14, 2011, ABC7 featured Connie on ''Chicago Close-Up'' as a pioneering female DJ in the 4 PM news segment with Janet Davies. In December 2008, Steve Sanders interviewed Connie on the WGN-TV ''Mid Day News.'' Her next book, COMFORTS--BLESSED ARE THEY.., was an inspirational work for those who are grieving and published in August 2016. Connie Szerszen is known to her listeners as the ''Top Rock Girly Jock'' and ''Polish Princess'' and ends her shows with "Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła", the first line of the

Polish national anthem ( " Dąbrowski's Mazurka"), in English officially known by its incipit Poland Is Not Yet Lost, is the national anthem of the Republic of Poland. The original lyrics were written by Józef Wybicki in Reggio Emilia, in Northern Italy, be ...

. In addition, Szerszen is a portrait artist. Szerszen's portraits of donors hang in the main entrance at St. Luke's Medical Center in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, and in the Karen Yontz Women's Cardiac Awareness Centers in Milwaukee and

West Allis, Wisconsin West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Histo ...

. Her works also hang at The Oconomowoc Hospital's Cancer Center; St. Mary of Nazareth in Chicago; Inverness Golf Club; Holy Family Parish,

Inverness, Illinois Inverness is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 7,616. Geography Inverness is located at (42.113275, -88.098433). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Inverness has a tot ...

; and the Village Hall in

Roselle, Illinois Roselle is a suburb of Chicago and is a village located in both DuPage County and Cook in Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Ch ...

. She has also done works for private and corporate clients, such as

USG Corporation USG Corporation, also known as United States Gypsum Corporation, is an American company which manufactures construction materials, most notably drywall and joint compound. The company is the largest distributor of wallboard in the United States ...

. On October 19, 2003, THE DAILY HERALD did a full page cover story on Connie's art. In February 2006, ''

Crain's Chicago Business ''Crain's Chicago Business'' is a weekly business newspaper in Chicago, IL. It is owned by Detroit-based Crain Communications, a privately held publishing company with more than 30 magazines, including ''Advertising Age'', ''Modern Healthcare'' ...

'' did a feature story on her portraiture. In 2011, Paraclete Press requested permission to use her painting of St. Pope John Paul II on the cover of GOD WILL PROVIDE by Patricia Treece. Szerszen has attended

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

American Academy of Art The American Academy of Art College is a private art school in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1923 for the education of fine and commercial arts students. The school's Bill L. Parks Gallery is open to the public and features exhibitions ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and The Palette & Chisel in Chicago with Dave Becker in October 2002,and The Studio of Long Grove with Romel de la Torre in 2003.

References

External links

* June 14, 2011 - ABC7 4 PM NEWS - Chicago Close-Up - Interview with Janet Davies {{DEFAULTSORT:Szerszen, Connie Living people Northwestern University alumni Radio personalities from Chicago School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni American people of Polish descent Year of birth missing (living people)