Courtney Crauthers
EDMOND — “Life is a yo-yo, full of ups and downs,” according to Penny Stephenson, aka Merry Weatherbee, life observer.
Stephenson, a commercial writer, producer and radio/television broadcaster, created the character in the 1980s to remind people to find the merry moments in daily life and not take things so seriously. The Merry Weatherbee program is designed for fun live entertainment, a one- to five-minute radio show or drop-in character for a talk show format.
Her observations have also been used as featured columns in Oklahoma newspapers and magazines.
“I see this woman as a little removed who can look at life from a different perspective, and is fun as well,” she said. “She’s the me who can say things I can’t say.”
Stephenson came up with the poem or observation, “Life is a Yo-Yo” in the 1980s to describe the failing of the energy industry, in which her husband worked. This affected the economy, which also affected her freelance advertising business. Instead of thinking of how bleak life was, Stephenson wrote “Life is a Yo-Yo,” an observation about the ups and downs of life and how God lifts people up.
Merry Weatherbee evolved over time into a physical being.
“My career was born in radio and I loved radio,” Stephenson said.
She originally envisioned Merry Weatherbee as a radio show.
“I wanted to let her voice bring a vision to the listeners,” Stephenson said. “I didn’t want her to be defined by me.”
She did a 13 week radio show but it was an automated radio station and she never found out how listeners reacted. Eventually, business picked back up and she went back to writing and producing.
However, people began to seek entertainment for church functions, ladies’ luncheons and other events. Thus, Stephenson decided it was time for Merry Weatherbee to have a physical form and perform her observations for others.
“I had to figure out what she looked like,” Stephenson said. “I went thrift store shopping and started buying the garish things.”
The result was a bright, colorful, zany country girl that speaks her mind with a southern twang.
Merry Weatherbee’s observations touch on life experiences from grocery shopping to guilt to driving in the car with a spouse.
“We share those experiences with laughter, with merriment, even though they are difficult experiences,” Stephenson said.
Pam Cullen, director of senior adult ministries at Christ the King Church, said she hired Stephenson to perform at a senior lunch.
“I thought it would be whimsical and different and it was. She was just delightful. Her rhymes are cute and funny and everybody loved her,” Cullen said.
After several requests from her audience, Stephenson published her first collection of observations, “Life is a Yo-Yo,” in 2005.
“I try to be honest with it. I throw out the uglies with the funnies,” Stephenson said. “I’m not just trying to be pie in the sky. There is merriment in the day but we have to stop taking life so darn seriously.”
For more information, visit merryweatherbee.com.
