I Miss Rita Williams and Bob Melrose; KTVU and KCBS Never The Same; Reflections

Rita Williams

I MISS Rita Williams and Bob Melrose; she, the legendary KTVU reporter who retired a few years back, and he, one of the best radio street reporters in the business who also retired from KCBS.

Of course KTVU is not the same without Williams and KCBS has nobody even close to Melrose.

Rita is not only missed on the air but off too; her sense of humor and levity even in the most trying times was priceless.

Bob Melrose and I used to sit in the Oakland Coliseum press box and schmooze about the state of life and Bay Area media.

Bob Melrose

On occasional Saturdays, he would take me up to the 32nd floor of Embarcadero One when KCBS was headquartered there and allow me the pleasure of watching him broadcast and edit tape. Cool man, that Melrose guy.

It bears repeating: We have lost some of the greatest electronic journalists (TV and Radio) by way of simple retirement or other circumstances. It's life. It's reality.

But we have to acknowledge them and not forget how fantastic they were at their respective jobs.

We cannot forget.

I won't.