In the early eighties Mary Riley “played the blues” at an all-night public radio station under the tutelage of disc jockey Manny Mauldin, Jr. , the first black DJ on the Chicago airwaves. We met at Manny’s basement studio, passing in the night. My name is Brenda Baxter and I am delighted to reconnect with Mary some forty-plus years later. Here’s our interview:
Mary, it is several decades since we were spinning blues albums soley at Manny’s. How did you find Manny’s training studio, and why the blues?
“Brenda, can you believe we traveled to the near-inner city of Milwaukee after midnight to play blues? Alone? In a musty basement surrounded by sagging albums? Dim lighting and Manny’s drifting cigarette smoke from upstairs surrounded us. What the hell were we doing there, I ask?”
I know. We must have been nuts. Tell me what brought you there?
“I worked midnight shift as a cop, one of Milwaukee and the country’s first female officers in uniform working the streets, right along with the big guys who had to be over six feet to even apply for the job. Those height standards were thrown out and there I was, a naive small-town white girl working the inner city. Prior to my arrival in Milwaukee in 1970, I had never had a close enough encounter with a black person to speak to them. I was home injured, couldn’t sleep and in the middle of the night (my working hours) I traveled up and down the radio dial and heard who I later learned to be BB King playing and singing “Lucille”. Who was BB King and who was Lucille? I did not know, but I did know I was ecstatic with the music, which I would hear in the bars we’d be sent because of “man with a gun”. With the mellow, sensual blues swirling, I could hardly keep myself from swirling my hips. That’s the sound I discovered on the radio!
A deep, low voice would announce “If you’re a woman and you want to be a DJ here, playing the blues call Manny Mauldin, Jr at 414-BLUES4U.” Yes! I called, was told to arrive the next evening and I did, wearing a full-length raccoon faux fur coat which Manny told me later he thought I had a shotgun underneath and I was undercover scoping him and his radio station out for foul play. Plus, I looked 74 pounds than I was, said he.
Once I got the spinning and announcing down, I played the blues several years on my off nights. I told no fellow officer. The woud have had me M.O.’d (detained for mental observation).”
Brenda roars in laughter and remarks how she lasted only several months at that stint but was delighted we met one another and hung out a bit. She went off to live in Saudi Arabia and Mary remained a cop.
Brenda asks how did I come to be crowned the Cat Woman of cat cafes, an international honour? “Brenda, I’m reveling in the recognition because it gives exposure to cat cafes worldwide. The more people know of them, the more support and creation of more cafes happens. When I was a cop in the harsh Wisconsin winters I would see cats huddled in alleys attempting to stay warm and find something to eat. It was truly heart-wrenching because they just wouldn’t let you catch them. Probably most were born outdoors and didn’t trust people. I felt helpless.
This cause haunted me for years and I began rescuing cats on the street in my Florida town yet I knew they had such an advantage not having to deal with the stress of freezing temperatures and biting winds. My husband Rick and I adopted out at least fifty kittens we fostered because we’d rescue them from their feral mothers and tame them. All, including the adults would be spayed and neutered after being trapped. This is the TNR program: trap, neuter and release. Again, we’d tame the kittens so they were adoptable. Agencies like Alley Cat Alley provide the know-how for anyone to employ TNR in their neighborhoods.
Somewhere/somehow I heard of the cat cafe concept, and my first visit was St. Patrick’s Day 2022 to Sips and Purrs cat cafe in Milwaukee! I didn’t even know they existed unti I was visiting family there for our grandson’s performance in his class play, and our grandaughter and husband’s “gender reveal” party of their new pregnancy. Several months before that I googled cat cafes and the several only that showed were mostly international. Yet, there was one in Milwaukee I didn’t know about.
So here we are, twenty years later and I have been instrumental in creating cat cafes in every state in the US which was my goal. My impetus was to provide a safe haven for cats without homes AND to provide education about cats and veterinary care and just as importantly, to provide a place where people could come and interact with cats.
This is my definite major purpose (DMP) which I came to realize in my wonderful undertaking as a student of the Master Key Experience. My wish is for all people know their purpose, their dharma and take that to our world. That’s what I did, I continue to do and I hope my example encourages anyone to define their DMP and learn the how-to by utilizing the process that MKE offers. I thank you Brenda for helping me make all of this known. And it all began with playing the blues. Who would have thought, me being interviewed by you, the “Oprah” of sharing events and projects that benefit our world.”
Blissfulness Living 