by Niki Chanel
Mary Jane grew up in Cheviot Hills in West Los Angeles. Nestled between MGM Studios and 20th Century Fox in the Beverly Hills / Westwood area, she saw her share of movie people. As a teen she went to junior high and high school at Marlborough School for girls in LA. “It was hard, but fabulous!” She moved on to Pine Manor, a small all-girl’s college in Massachusetts. It was strong in liberal arts, and she found that her interest lay in Art History, which she later majored in after transferring to UCLA. Mary Jane illuminates: “In those days women only expected to become nurses, secretaries, or teachers.” In her sophomore year she was asked to be the editor of the yearbook and thought, “this might be fun”. Interested in making the yearbook a bit different, she was told her ideas would make it cost more money, but was given the freedom to sell advertising to raise the necessary funds. She found she loved the excitement of the sale. “They said yes!”
She married and came to Palos Verdes in 1966, later moving to the Valmonte area. I asked her how she felt about PV. “I think we live in paradise. Where else can you find a more beautiful place to live? We have everything: horses, the ocean… and peacocks.”
Initially, Mary Jane worked part-time for the PV News while her children (Frank and Elizabeth – both now grown with their own families), were in elementary and intermediate schools. After three years in advertising sales Mary Jane became the sales manager for the next ten years. “It was the only game in town.”
As communication technology evolved, cable television became a new industry, and Mary Jane went to work for Dimension Cable, now called Cox Cable. She covered local cable sales for the peninsula and half of San Pedro. It was a completely different experience selling CNN, ESPN, MTV, USA and TNT, but the basic process was the same; a cable ‘spot’ was sold, the ad campaign was sent to filmmakers, and the ad aired a month later. Mary Jane was now attending meetings with big corporations as far away as San Diego. She became the first woman to join the Rotary Club of Palos Verdes Peninsula, after the Supreme Court ruled that women could be members because of their growing presence in business.
Even so, television technology was not yet digital - one of her jobs was to change the video tape of ads every Sunday for the NFL game. This meant getting the right tape into the right tape player, then rushing home to see if it was playing properly on her TV. Six years of dedication, and success of the cable business, made it possible to eventually hand that job over to the ‘techies’.
By now, Mary Jane knew many people in the communications industry and one in particular knew her – Kevin Cody of the Easy Reader weekly newspaper. He had always liked that she encouraged her advertisers, who wanted to reach the beach cities, to contact the Easy Reader. He wanted her on his team as sales manager, and said so. Mary Jane had always preferred the independent entrepreneurial approach, and realized that the corporate life wasn’t really for her. “I was ready for a change.”
Immediately, they set to work on an experimental publication, extending the Easy Reader format into Palos Verdes. It was called the Peninsula Easy Reader. Even though Mary Jane was having success as the ad director, she noticed that most of the copies went right into the trash – it wasn’t working. What she thought PV needed was a monthly lifestyle publication. “Let’s focus on the people of the Hill.”
The magazine was redesigned; a new name – “Peninsula People”, a glossy cover in colour, black and white interior, free lance writers for the profiles, and they added a calendar of events. But nothing really got the magazine going until Mary Jane took her camera to some of the PV events and printed the photos. It took off! Mary Jane is now totally in change of the Peninsula People publication, from content to cover design, and will occasionally write an article for it.
When her husband died, Mary Jane came to the conclusion that she could either sit at home and mourn, or get on with her life. These days she has little free time. Very involved with the local world of art and music, she belongs to “The Circle” at the PV Art Center, and holds season tickets for the LA Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra and the Peninsula Symphony. She has been a member of the Peninsula Committee for the LA Philharmonic for over 40 years. Mary Jane has also been very active with the annual Palos Verdes Concours d'Elegance - she was co-chair of the event for five years and still serves on their board of directors. In 2004 she was selected by the Palos Verdes Chamber of Commerce as their Citizen of the Year. She plays poker and bridge each month, goes to regular Rotary meetings, and travels - recently returning from trips to Germany and Washington D.C. for pleasure… and there’s more.
But something is bothering her; “I have a real worry that the younger people of Palos Verdes are not stepping up into the community positions and taking on the necessary responsibilities.” She explains that if the next generation does not take up the causes and care of the community, there is not going to be a community for their children. “If parents see the importance of being involved with the schools, they must also understand that they need to look further into the future and get involved with the greater community. We need infusion, now.”
A great pillar in our midst, Mary Jane Schoenheider is not just a community person; she is also very much a people person.
If you have a question or an idea and would like to get in touch with either Easy Reader or Peninsula People, both can be found on the internet at easyreadernews.com .
PHOTO CREDIT ~ David Fairchild
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