A Podcast Conversation With ... Maie Pauts

By Bill King

Maie Pauts – I Take Requests!

“Want to hear a song? Okay, tell us about it. We have a show specifically dedicated to it… The boombox All Request Lunch with Maie Pauts! We need to know a few things; your name, what the song is, who sings it, if there is a special message. Fill out the form below, and we’ll do our best to hook you up!”

This is where the day begins for radio veteran and afternoon host at Boom 97.3 FM and newly celebrated Radio Trailblazer, recipient of the 2023 Rosalie Award, named after legendary CKLW Windsor Music Director Rosalie Trombley.

Pauts is heard middays on Stingray’s boom 97.3 (CHBM-FM) Toronto. 

Pauts earned a degree from Ryerson, now Toronto Metropolitan University, and worked middays at CKMW 790 in Toronto in 1983, CFNY-FM in 1987, CHUM-FM as a swing announcer in 2002, and with boom 97.3 since 2010.

The affable Pauts entered with a smile and hearty laugh as we began this FYI podcast and seemed a bit overwhelmed by the award and the task of preparing a speech. Media giants have personality, and much of the goodwill filters from the top down. When speaking with Pauts, I couldn’t help but reference program director Wayne Webster and our long-time friendship dating back to the Gary Slaight helm at Q-107 in 1985. Easy as it comes. Pauts speaks with the same positive tone and grace I’ve come to savour over the decades with Wayne and others who work alongside the long-serving radio wizard.

There’s much in this conversation to enjoy. It’s the humanity and joy of engaging an audience and that bond between the listener and the voice on the other end. This is where the conversation begins today – Maie Pauts!