R.I.P.: Susan Bray, Known As 'Saucy Aussie' On WHO Des Moines

Susan Bray was one of the best-known personalities in Iowa as a talk-show host on WHO-AM radio in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her husband, Ed DeLong, announced news of her death last week on the legendary radio pioneer's Facebook page:

"I lost my best friend today. Susan Bray DeLong passed away this morning, peacefully, ending a battle against a variety of bugs that started almost six months ago and gradually took their toll on her heart, lungs, and kidneys. She was 79 years, 4 months, and just under 16 days old."

Susan Bray

Susan was known as the "Saucy Aussie" because of her Australian accent and penchant for being an edgy, sometimes raunchy, talk radio host. She began flying solo behind the microphone in February 1979. Before that, she'd been teamed with conservative Cal Stout. It was, and sadly still is, unusual for women to have their own airtime in the Des Moines metro market. Susan was the first in Des Moines to have a one-woman radio show. She was celebrated, criticized and told to go back home to Australia, which she eventually did after a long talk radio career in Philadelphia.

Biggest challenge of a talk radio host is to attract listeners by getting people to call the show. Susan and her producer would cook up something naughty and get the lines to light up, writes Julie Gammick for The Des Moines Register.

"We saw a survey from a news source in England asking which are more sexy, full-size underwear or bikinis," said Beverly. Topic fodder for a Susan Bray segment.

Bing, bing, bing … the red lights on the switchboard swept the 10-line board, including the WATS line, where people from around the state could call for free.

Susan Bray was also a smart, well-read news hound. She took on presidential candidates and presidents, the most famous of whom was Ronald Reagan, who also started broadcasting on WHO-AM radio. If Reagan thought some woman would throw him softballs on his old station, he had another thing coming.

Former Des Moines Register columnist Chuck Offenburger thinks he was the one who gave Bray the "Saucy Aussie" moniker that followed her to Philadelphia. He said she brought new life to the station with her "spunk and sexiness."

"I think she was a bridge for WHO to new audiences of younger listeners and, especially, women. She was like a fresh breeze — or sometimes like a derecho — blowing across the Iowa landscape. And she had that great accent from her native Australia, and Iowans seemed to love it.