Marilyn Pittman

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.

KALW Remembering Marilyn Pittman

The Bay Area lost a pioneer in Queer comedy and radio. One of the first openly gay comics, Marilyn Pittman.

She rose to fame during the AIDS crisis, and became known for bringing hilarity through her blunt tell-it-like-it-is comedy.

Marylin was in front of a microphone even off the stage with over three decades of radio work, which include two national shows and time at KQED and KGO. She was also part of the KALW family as the Co-Executive Producer and Host of our series Out in the Bay. Many also knew Marylin as a teacher, she worked as a talent and voicing coach for public radio talk show hosts, including… me! I was lucky to be a student of her vocal coaching.

The Bay Area has lost one of its great voices and alchemists. And Marilyn knew how to spin tragedy in comedy gold. In 1997, tragedy struck, when her father murdered her mother, and then committed suicide.

From this experience she created a one-woman comedy show that she performed in San Francisco in 2012. That year I got to sit down with Marilyn to talk about the work of turning heartbreak into laughter.

Listen here: www.kalw.org/2026-04-07/remebring-marilyn-pittman

Remembering Marilyn Pittman: Lesley Gore

March 31, 2026 • Out In The Bay, Podcast

With sadness, I honor senior co-producer Marilyn Pittman, who passed away Saturday, March 28, by reposting some of her stellar features. She was especially proud of easing Lesley Gore “out” on-air. RIP, Marilyn. ~ E

Marilyn Pittman’s and Eric Jansen’s 2007 interview with the late Lesley Gore. Discovered by Quincy Jones, Gore’s iconic, “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To” and “You Don’t Own Me,” were smash hits that became classics. Hear about how she came out and who helped her do it, and how she brought new life to her 1960s hits decades later. (This rebroadcast Feb. 19, 2015)
LISTEN Lesley Gore

Series: Out In The Bay, Podcast

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Memory wall

Remembering Marilyn Pittman: a memorial 

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