"Oh, that's Joanne," Bryant said without hesitation. "Joanne Daniels. No doubt about it."
He said Daniels started recording the time for Weatherchron about 25 years ago. At some point after Pacific Bell switched to his company's system, Daniels became California's time lady.
Reached at her Atlanta home, Daniels, 65, estimated that her reach was once nearly as extensive as that of Barbe, who was a friend. Daniels is now retired.
"I've done the time in many areas -- Eastern Standard Time, central time, Pacific time," she said. "The fun part was doing the temperatures for places like Alaska."
Daniels switched to her professional voice, her soft Southern accent instantly vanishing. "At the tone," she said, "the temperature is minus 12 degrees." She laughed and her accent returned. "I liked that."
No one had told her that AT&T was about to stop time.
"I think that's very sad," Daniels said. "I was told at one time that my voice would last until well into the 21st century. Now it looks like I'm about to be laid to rest."
When that day comes, Daniels said, she knows what her epitaph will be: "She knew the time."
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Consumer Confidential runs Wednesdays and Sundays. Send tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
