A lifelong adventurer, Matt Holzman became the heart and soul of KCRW, but not before attending UCSB and parties on Kinevan Ranch, where this photo was taken before the dancing to Jah-B-One commenced. | Credit: Matt Perko
Matt Holzman: 1963-2020
In Memoriam By
Don Lubach | Thu May 21, 2020 | 4:26pm
If you noticed something missing from our FM radio airwaves in the past month, it was the voice of Matt Holzman — a voice described as the heart and soul of KCRW radio.
I met Matt when he was 19 years old. He was down the hallway when I moved into a UCSB dorm on a fall afternoon. Matt and his roommate Rob Babbush seemed years older than me; they were returning for their sophomore year and, in comparison to us froshies surrounded by tearful parents and siblings, they appeared calm and all-knowing.
Matt was a computer science major. Not one person at UCSB would have guessed that he would end up as the soul of public radio. But there were signs of his future: He loved stories. His favorite childhood book was The Twenty-one Balloons by William Pène du Bois about a teacher who found himself on a great adventure.
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