Mary was born at Loretto Hospital on the West Side but was soon taken much, much farther west to grow up in her ancestral home of Dixon, Illinois. It was there that she gave up a lucrative career as a bad waitress to read hog reports and play 45's on WIXN Radio. (EDITOR'S NOTE: "45's" were small, round pieces of vinyl that played songs, often called "singles," a very, very long time ago.)

Only someone from a very small town would pick radio for a career, and choose journalism as a backup. Mary earned degrees at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and the University of Illinois-Springfield. She came back to the city of her birth in 1991 to work for WXRT. As a reporter she won AP and Lisagor honors for investigative, business and features stories.

It was in DeKalb that she first stumbled upon her future colleague, Lin Brehmer, in a Playgirl Magazine spread on America's Sexiest DJ's. She has been laughing at him ever since. In the mid-90's she left for a while to work on the TV. Then she came back, and then she left for a while to tend and make babies. They were all experiences of learning and growth, which would also explain the extra 20 pounds.

Mary lives with her husband, Mark Caro, and their two daughters.

Q & A With Mary Dixon!

What's it like getting up so early in the morning to work alongside Lin Brehmer?
I feel so comfortable. Warm and supported. My surroundings are familiar but interspersed with unusual visions. Then the alarm goes off.

Do you have a most memorable moment of all the years together with Lin at XRT?
We've had some moments. Mostly, they involve Lin showing me his belly. Those, I try to block from memory. Others would include the day I left... the day I came back... the day his son was born. September eleventh. You spend every morning with a person, you go through stuff together.

What is the oddest news story that you ever had to report on WXRT?
I remember a nasty license fight between the City of Chicago and a downtown business. In the interest of the First Amendment, some colleagues decided to go check it out, and I tagged along. It was a so-called "Gentlemen's Club." I was wearing more clothes and less makeup than any of the other women there.

What historic news story in the past would you have liked to have been around to report on?
The Blitz.

Which person in the history of humankind would you like to spend an evening at dinner with? Why? The Prophet Mohammed might make for an interesting dinner companion these days.

When you were a child, what musical act first caught your attention?
Simon and Garfunkel. My parents played a lot of the folkies.

What is your favorite movie of all time?
The Philadelphia Story