Every Sunday I make it a point to listen to my old colleague from WUWM-FM Milwaukee Public Radio and dear friend Obie Yadgar.

He now does a weekly Sunday morning program on WMSE-FM in Milwaukee from 8-9 am with great classical music and with wonderful anecdotes shared whimsically by Obie. Today he referenced a 1989 Chicago Tribune article about a young woman named Sonia Sudak who used classical music to talk herself out of an encounter with a pair of thugs. His on-air anecdote followed the playing of a well-known Vivaldi composition, “Summer from the Four Seasons.”

I couldn’t locate the Tribune article but I did find this from the NY Times dated January 18, 1989, by Ron Alexander:

Sonia Sudak of Manhattan enjoyed an afternoon of ice skating at the Wollman Rink, then lingered over a hot chocolate with a friend. It was beginning to get dark as she headed home. She was near an exit at Central Park South, listening to a Vivaldi concerto on her headphone radio, when she became aware of two teen-age boys approaching her. ”Give me your radio, lady,” one of them demanded. Without really thinking about what she was saying, Ms. Sudak found herself replying: ”You wouldn’t want it. It plays only classical music.”

The boy who had spoken looked disgusted, grumbled ”aw . . .,” uttered a four-letter word and turned to walk off with his cohort.

When Ms. Sudak left the park a few minutes later, she was still listening to Vivaldi.