THEY WERE NOT ONLY GREAT, that's obvious. They were real, genuine to the core. And they were original too. Deep-rooted, compelling and oh so sincere.
I didn't get to meet Van Amburg. I knew he was uber-ego and could be difficult to work for/with, but that's life.
Mac (Dave McElhatton) I did meet once and, as advertised, Mac was a very kind, considerate man with a heart of gold. I was noshing late one stormy afternoon at Hunan --across the street from KPIX's studios. Mac came an and we exchanged greetings. He was a real cool guy --I knew he was humble. I told him I remember his days at the old KCBS and said he was the best radio news man I'd ever heard, locally. He smiled, thanked me, and we shook hands.
Mac and Van were old-school. The above video is a good watch. Take a moment and observe Bay Area news royalty.
(KPIX)
No one from today's talking heads could touch Fred Van Amburg. No one. And to think we made fun of happy talk back in the day. Shame on us.
ReplyDeleteAttn: New hires at KPIX
ReplyDeleteThis is your new-hire orientation video.
So drop the mickey mouse voice & fakery.
Two, First Class Acts.
ReplyDeleteBig Mac. Such a nice guy.
ReplyDeleteTwo of the best ever...
ReplyDeleteLoved Van Amburg and also Dave. Success is so easy in broadcasting, just be yourself and care about what you are saying and reporting. No one does that on any TV station in the Bay Area. People are looking for it, in the millions, here. Van and Dave would be superstars no matter when they were on. If they were lead anchors now, it would be a ratings landslide.
ReplyDeleteDion Lim puts both of these guys to shame.
ReplyDeleteThese were REAL News guys. They weren't phoney or trying to be your fake friend. They just read their script and reported it as it happened. Todays news people could take lessons from these guys. They weren't "Building a Better Bay Area". Any journalist that claims they are building a better Bay Area by being fake, phoney, news people, need to go back to school and study Journalism over again.
ReplyDelete