Grete Franke Dollitz (June 12, 1924 – May 9, 2013) was an American

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

radio presenter, classical

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

, and guitar teacher in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. She was born in Germany, and immigrated to the United States with her mother and younger brother in 1935 to reunite with her father, who immigrated five years earlier. As a radio presenter, she had a deep voice, and used the phrase "Won't you join me?" at the end of her promos. Dollitz's program, "An Hour With the Guitar" aired in Richmond, Virginia and in other areas for over 30 years, originally on WFMV (defunct), and later on WRFK. Until December 2012, it aired weekly on

WCVE-FM WCVE-FM ("VPM News", 88.9 MHz) is a public radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, serving the Greater Richmond Region. WCVE-FM is owned and operated by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation. CPBC also owns Channel 23 WCVE-TV, the ...

. She also hosted a weekly classical music program on the same station, and an annual

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

program that highlighted musicians in the Richmond, Virginia area. American classical guitarist and composer Andrew York is one of Dollitz's former students. Dollitz herself was a student of classical guitar

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

and author, Aaron Shearer. Her personal guitar was crafted by the late

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

Joseph Wallo (#46, 1963). Dollitz retired from WCVE Public Radio on September 12, 2012. A book of letters she translated from German was published on February 12, 2013. The book, called ''Letters from the Depression: Part 1'' details the first year of her and her parents' immigration story through their letters. Dollitz died on May 9, 2013, in Richmond, Virginia.

References

External links

WCVE Public Radio: HD1 Schedule (News/Classical/Jazz)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollitz, Grete 1924 births 2013 deaths Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States American guitarists