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50 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, April 18, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 17, 2005 Joan Heisel, right, meets a snake during her talk show, �Woman�s World,� which aired on local television in the 1960s and �70s. She said people still stop her on the street today. Her ‘Woman’s World’ was giant EDITOR’S NOTE : The Mail Tribune takes a look back at the people and places of yesteryear in the Rogue Valley for its annual "Our Valley" section, published today. By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune It’s been 25 years since Joan Hornecker gave up her place in the local television spotlight. But she still won’t give up her secret for securing guest interviews that brought the world to the Rogue Valley. "Things just always seemed to happen to me," Hornecker said. Hollywood stars, pop music icons, religious leaders and Mickey Mouse were standard fare for TV host Hornecker — then known as Joan Heisel — on her live local talk shows during the 1960s and ’70s. Advertisement Hornecker alludes to extensive contacts throughout the broadcasting industry, but it was likely her charm that won over so many. "Joan was a loved television personality," said Tam Moore, the former Jackson County commissioner who worked as the news and program director for KOBI. The station aired Hornecker’s "Woman’s World" for about 14 years until she quit television in 1979. Hornecker, 70, lives in a Jacksonville townhouse and a cabin in the Winema National Forest. She manages real estate, nurtures her garden, volunteers at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, supervises a family farm in Nebraska and clears brush at her cabin to reduce fire danger in the summer. A recent bout with pneumonia couldn’t keep Hornecker — fully made up, hair curled — from supervising workers building an addition at her Jacksonville home. Inside, religious icons and African art adorned the walls. Classical choir music softly filled the house as Hornecker recalled her stint as a talk-show host. "I’m a gregarious, nutty type of person ... when I started this, women were at home ... and I was criticized for being out working." Hornecker worked in Salem as a fashion director for Meier and Frank. In Medford, she organized General Motors promotions after moving to a house on Oak Grove Road in 1959. Approached by KOBI executive Bob Lindstrom, Hornecker created "Woman’s World" with the hope of informing Southern Oregon housewives and giving them an evening’s worth of conversation to share with their husbands when they came home from work, she said. "Joan was probably one of the most talented and creative women I ever met," said Karen Darling, known as Karen Van de Warker when she briefly substituted for Hornecker on "Woman’s World." "I think she really blazed a trail for women in broadcasting in this area," said the 60-year-old Ashland resident. Interviews with the Dalai Lama, nuns threatened by Guatemalan terrorists and a journalist held prisoner during the Vietnam War brought global news to local living rooms. Hornecker also discussed world religions as a regular monthly feature of the show. Hornecker can brag of being the only talk-show host to interview actor Cliff Robertson shortly after he won a 1968 Best Actor Academy Award for "Charly." She remembered him as among the most gracious of celebrities. Always going the extra mile to land grand guests, Hornecker personally chauffeured the Grammy-award winning band Fifth Dimension from Ashland to Medford to appear on her show. But "Woman’s World" wasn’t just about famous faces. Hornecker periodically dressed as a clown to amuse the kids and played host to a menagerie of animals, including a cow she milked on the studio’s patio with unexpected results. "Joan is doing her usual interview, and the cow does its usual job," said Lauralee Patterson, 53, of Central Point. "It poops and pees everywhere," laughed Patterson, who, as the Rogue Valley Dairy Princess, brought the cow on air with her in 1970. Community connections were the real key to the show’s popularity, Moore said. "These are people, whether they’re entertainers or artists — or whatever — who are in your community," he said. "It was like the soap opera," said Medford resident Robin Zundel Stroh, 50. "My mother would watch every day faithfully." Now a moderator for televised local political debates, Stroh had her own television debut on Hornecker’s show in 1965. The 10-year-old Stroh brought her collection of 50 dolls that her grandmother had sent from countries all over the world. Stroh remembered being so nervous that she could barely answer Hornecker’s questions. "She had to really work to get me to say something," Stroh said. "And she did, too. She was great. She was a very nice woman." After raising six children practically at the television station, Hornecker bowed out of the broadcasting business to devote her life to marriage and family. She said she even declined a job interview with Dan Rather in New York. Yet her face remains familiar to many Rogue Valley residents who often can’t quite place her until she mentions TV. "People will walk up to me and say, ‘I know you,’ "Hornecker said. "They say, ‘We need something like this again.’ " Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Tatoos Advertisement s