Candy O'Terry

Personal life and education

Born Candace Ann Low in Manhattan, New York, O'Terry was adopted when she was 5 months old. The family lived in Syosset, New York, and then relocated to Norwalk, Connecticut, where she lived until she was 10 years old. Her parents were divorced when she was very young, and O'Terry moved with her mother to Newington, Connecticut, where she attended St. Mary's School and Newington High School. She was a champion diver and was recruited by Boston College, where she won the silver medal in the 1976 Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Championships. O'Terry's mother Marjorie died of breast cancer in May 1976 at the age of 52. This personal tragedy would shape her lifelong commitment to the fight against breast cancer. O'Terry graduated from Boston College with a degree cum laude in English. She was married at age 21 and has two children: Christopher, and Colleen. O'Terry was divorced in 1991 and spent 15 years as a single mother until marrying Tom Gaffny in August 2006. She discovered her birth parents and four half-brothers and half-sisters in May 2007.

Career in radio

O'Terry graduated from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, in October 1990 and secured an interview on November 2, 1990, at Magic 106.7/Boston for a temporary position as the secretary to a program director, Don Kelley. After serving in that position for 8 weeks, she was officially hired as programming assistant and public service director on January 23, 1991. O'Terry landed on the air on July 20, 1991, purely by accident when a part-time disc jockey fell asleep for the third time and was fired. With no one available to work that night, O'Terry did her first overnight shift with coaching from Magic 106.7's Moneen Daley. She worked the overnight shift every weekend for another year, while her children slept in the newsroom. On December 28, 1992 she sent a memo to News Director Gay Vernon about an idea she had for a public affairs program to be called Exceptional Women. The two began a collaboration that lasted until Vernon's resignation from the station in February 2012. The Sunday morning show and O'Terry have received 43 awards, including a record breaking 23 Gracie Allen Awards from the Alliance for Women in Media. In 1993, O'Terry began filling in for volumptuous midday personality Nancy Quill and also became the afternoon drive traffic anchor for both WMJX Magic 106.7 and sister station, WBCS, Country 96.9 where she took on the alias: Christy Grace. In 1997, she added traffic duties for 105.7, WROR-FM and began a 3-year period working 7-day weeks on multiple stations. The success of the Exceptional Women radio show inspired a yearly celebration called the Exceptional Women Awards in 1998 with a portion of proceeds to benefit the fight against breast cancer. In 1999, O'Terry was promoted to program administrator of the Greater Boston Radio Group and served temporarily as Music Director for WROR-FM. In 2001, she was promoted to assistant program director for WMJX Magic 106.7 and was invited to become the radio spokesperson for the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in 2003, a position she held until 2015. The year 2004 found O'Terry with a Billboard nomination for APD of the Year and a Gracie Allen Award for Individual Achievement as a program host. She would realize the lifelong dream of hearing and playing her own songs on the radio between 2005 and 2012 with the recording and release of Jim Brickman's "The Gift and Valentine", a duet with Charlie Farren called "You Are The Only One" and a collaboration with jazz prodigy Grace Kelly on the Christmas classic, "Silent Night". In March 2013 she traded her responsibilities as assistant program director for the chance to be on the air full-time and became the co-host of Morning Magic with The Exciting Mike Addams. In June 2013, Addams announced his retirement, and O'Terry was teamed with a handful of people throughout the summer including David O'Leary, Sue Tabb, Ed McMann, Jaybeau Jones and Chris Shine. In late August 2013, she was permanently teamed with David O'Leary. On March 27, 2015, she left, declining a two-year contract renewal with WMJX to focus on other projects, including her first full-length CD called Dream Come True and a children's book series she is co-authoring with her daughter Colleen.

Endorsements

Host of American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Boston, BMW, Canyon Ranch, Century Bank, CertaPro Painters, Connecticut School of Broadcasting, Dentyne Ice, Dunkin' Donuts, Edible Arrangements, HomeGoods, JetBlue, Landmark College, Lifetime Television, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Lottery, Medifast, Nabisco Premium Saltine Crackers, Proven Winners, Sandals Resort, Sleep Number, Shake 'n Bake, Verizon Wireless, and YP.com.

Host

O'Terry is the founder of WMJX Magic 106.7's Exceptional Women radio program. Originally co-hosted by Gay Vernon, the show is now co-hosted by former "Matty in the Morning" Kiss 108 personality Sue Tabb and Tina Gao . The 30 minute show airs on Sunday mornings at 7:30. The theme is: "radio portraits of women who will inspire you". About 600 women have been featured on the show since Exceptional Women debuted on WMJX Magic 106.7 in January 1993 including: Patti Austin, Brittany Bergquist, Magi Bish, Wendy Booker, Mariah Carey, Attorney General Martha Coakley, Nany Quil, Lynne Cox, Jackie DeShannon, Linda Eder, Gloria Estefan, Gina Gallo, Gloria Gaynor, Valerie Harper, Dr. Carolyn Kaelin, Gladys Knight, Joyce Kulhawik, Patti LaBelle, Dr. Kathy Magliato, Dr. Roseanna Means, Bette Midler, Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Olivia Newton-John, Stevie Nicks, Mary Pope Osborne, Michelle Phillips, Anna Quindlen, Dr. Julie Silver, Carole Simpson, Liz Walker, Mary Wilson, and Kate White. Exceptional Women is the most successful public affairs program produced by and for women in the United States.

Moderator/emcee

Career on television

Scholarships

The PinkRose Foundation's "Candy O'Terry Scholarship" in honor of her mother, Marjorie V. Low is a $1000.00 scholarship awarded to graduating high school students in the Boston area who have lost their mother to breast cancer.

Career as a singer

May 30, 2015 Candy releases the CD Dream Come True at a release party held at RLR Studio in Framingham, MA. to benefit Lucy's Love Bus.

Career in film

O'Terry plays the role of newscaster Candace Malone in the full-length independent feature film, CO2, which premiered October 23, 2010 and was produced by Wild Beagle Productions. She wrapped filming her first major role as Nina Wallace in May 2010 for the feature film Luke Eleven, produced by On Cue Productions and scheduled for release in 2011. In 2014 she played the role of Pamela Fontaine, a newscaster in the film Lazarus Rising, starring Eric Roberts and Lenny Clarke.