*EMERALD YEH: Didn't make any fuss or play to the camera: just read the news. As classy, understated as ever and a fine talent to boot. Emerald was also very gracious and warm. A beautiful woman with a heart of gold, still active today and sorely missed, back in the 80's and 90's, an indelible part of KRON's Bay Area TV News heritage.
*TOM SINKOVITZ: He is the old-school newsman. About as good as it gets. Not only read the news but had a low-key passion too. Began in the east coast and settle here at KRON in the 1980's as one of their top=tier anchors before moving on to NBC San Jose. Lives in SF now and is enjoying retired life with family and kids. A powerful image and PRESENCE to the max. One of the very best with a heart of gold to boot. Nothing like a might out to schmooze with the great, "Sink."
*SYLVIA CHASE: Way underrated in my book. Her ABC/20-20 resume was fine and memorable but I think her mid-80's KRON stint was very effective. She had a way with words. In my opinion, a powerful and very much, "old school" persona that carried over extremely nice to the KRON look. And to the day she died in 2019, a very gracious and classy lady.
*EVAN WHITE: Nobody quite like Evan White. Just a commanding voice and look. He had an early Bay Area stint at KGO before migrating to KRON to become one of their legendary news anchors and indelible figures from the 1980's and early 90's. He's supposedly enjoying retired life and gone reclusive mode living in SF and mellowing out. What a talent.
I knew Sylvia Chase. She was a terrific reporter who had a great producer at ABC. She was not a successful anchor for KRON.. Anchors are often "good" because they exude "personality" or the illusion of same. Being a really good network reporter is much more difficult.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Reporting and anchoring require two different skill sets. Few people are good at both. Caherine Heenan and Brian Hackney are about the only two I can think of off the top of my head, but then again, those two are good at everything. Which, sadly, is why current management has so little use for either of them.
DeleteYes, Christine, Yes. This is why you are so cherished in our house during the Holiday Season. No Christmas Dinner is complete without Christine’s tasty Honey Glazed Christmas Ham. Afterwards, we all gather outside to sing Christmas Carols in honor of Christine, Walter and Bill, the Three Wise Men.
DeleteOe Christmas Bowels….
I usually enjoy Christine’s post but she is wrong here. Sylvia Chase was a dame! We all loved her and she was talented! And just like John Miller she knew how to dress!
DeleteSylvia was the best. We were honored to have her at KRON and sad when she left for NY. Perhaps if Christine wasn’t so jealous, she would have appreciated her too. God rest her soul.
DeleteSylvia Chase was an awful anchor.
DeleteI have no idea if Sylvia Chase was a "dame", or what exactly that means. She was not a successful anchor at KRON...see ratings. She was a skilled and successful investigative reporter at ABC.This is not evil. My soul is fine, and not resting.
DeleteAnother post by Christine where she is forced to eat her words.
DeleteAre you a moron and as dumb as catshit Craft? Sylvia is dead. Show some respect
DeleteWhy does the same person constantly attack Christine from multiple blog posts under multiple names?
DeleteA clue for the clueless.Everyone dies. Ms Chase died in her eighties after a long career which had high notes and low ones(KRON).This isn't a fact dispute. Ms.Chase was also a public figure, and as such, anyone is free to speak of her. She often reported on the shenanigans of people, dead and alive.
DeleteWorked with both Emerald Yeh and Tom Sinkovitz. Terrific anchors/reporters, and even better human beings. Loved them both. I count myself fortunate to have known and worked with them. Miss them both.
ReplyDeleteTom was a mensch, but the really great person at that station was Bobby Bonaventura.
DeleteUnequalled in every way.
Can't agree with you there. He and I had no real beefs, but he had a very mercurial personality, an almost Jekyll-and-Hyde, and could be a real terror to some people. Frankly, he could be a bit scary. So can't sign on with you. Sorry. Wish Bobby the best of luck wherever he is, but I saw what I saw.
DeleteI don't know how many times I witnessed Bobby Bonaventura save a newscast. He would be running tapes on a show, and in between rushing to the newsroom to correct writers' errors, fielding phone calls, and even helping reporters in the field with their technical problems. And on top of all that, he managed to be Gary Radnich's agent somehow. Look at old KRON tapes and you'll hear Gary reminisce about "My agent, the great Bob Bonaventura." Truth is, KRON began its descent the day Bobby left to shuck corn in the fields of Nebraska. He was the very spirit of KRON. In fact, for a while management debated about changing the station letters to BOBB. They should have.
DeleteI dunno. I'm beginning to think that you, "ANONYMOUS", might be Bobby Bonaventura himself. If I'm wrong, how about letting us know who you are? I stand by my remarks. Bobby could be a real sweetheart one minute, but the next he would be roaring with anger or belittling an intern. He was suspended on numerous occasions for his behavior. If he had emotional issues--perhaps he was bipolar--I do hope he got the help he needed. Oh, by the way, he was nobody's agent. That what just a lot of hooey Gary spouted off. He also called one of his sports producers--a guy named Kevin--his "bodyguard". Also bullshit. Just wanted to set the record straight. Oh, and this is my real name. I worked at KRON-TV from 1997 until a few years after the Young fiasco.
DeleteSarcasm, Andru, it was sarcasm..... :-)
DeleteAnd I actually thought "In fact, for a while management debated about changing the station letters to BOBB. They should have" was going too far..........
DeleteWeird how my simple praise of two KRON all-stars devolved into a looping, twisting thread about an unknown (to TV audiences) background technician's bona fides and bifurcated temperament. But I hope you had fun.
DeleteNice reading about the KRONvicts from back when. When newscasts were something.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they should be referred to as Ex-KRONs.
DeleteBob Jimenez; Emerald Yeh; Tom Sinkovitz; Sylvia Chase; Evan White; Gary Radnich
ReplyDeleteFixed the list for you.
I've seen Emerald Yeh in West Portal but never stopped to tell her, "I miss your generation of local news reporters."
ReplyDeleteHow about Rollin Post, Belva Davis, Bev Mikolonis, Karl Sonkin, Vic Lee….
ReplyDelete- Bob Jimenez earned respect.
ReplyDelete- I remember when Emerald Yeh was at CNN before arriving at KRON. Seemed to adapt to City life very well. Did a good job at Channel 4. I believe Yeh was there at least at the start of the Pete Wilson Era. Solid professional personality who quietly never suffered fools (like the Bentley could be at times).
- The one and only Tom Sinkovitz. One of a kind. Too bad middle management never figured that out.
- Unfortunately, Sylvia Chase's time at KRON was never well-received. Didn't help that KGO still had Van Amburg and KPIX was in the middle of the Dave McElhatton Era. Never climbed out of 3rd during the 6PM hour, nor 4th if you include KTVU's 10:00 News.
- Yep, Evan White loves the secluded City life. A lot of people forget that even before his 1970s at KGO, he was at KPIX during the late 1960s as John Weston was wrapping up his time there. Among White's colleagues at the time - Dave Valentine (before he became KRON anchor in the early 1970s), Rod Sherry, Ben Williams, Ed Arnow, Belva Davis, Helen Bentley (who arrived just as Wanda Ramey left), Bill Hillman (aka THE Voice of KPIX), and a young Don Knapp. But there was no doubt that White's most fun years were at KRON, including the short-lived stint as Bay TV lead anchor.
Was Jim Swanson involved with KRON news?
ReplyDeleteJim Paymar, John Kessler, Pat Finn, Pete Liebengood, Pete Wilson!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to Evan White? He must be in his 70s or 80s now, last time I saw him was on Bay TV doing the 7PM news.
ReplyDeleteKarl Sonkin? Karl Sonkin! Karl Sonkin?! Might as well have Malou Nubla, Leila Feinstein, John Hambrick, Jim Paymar, Michelle Franzen (now at ABC radio), Mark Mullen (now in San Diego).
ReplyDeleteJokes all. And don't forget Claudia Cowan, Anna Duckworth and Terisa Estacio!
DeleteSonkin was a good reporter. Hambrick was too dramatic and cold. Paymar was white bread, toasted, dry, with nothin' on it. Was it true that when early in his career when he worked in Texas, Mark Mullen went by Mark Martinez?
ReplyDeleteNo one has mentioned Rita Channon. A very classy, attractive and smart anchor. Also a heck of a poker player.
Always thought Evan White looked like Carl Perkins with real hair.
ReplyDeleteMore like Marlin Perkins.
DeleteIt’s too bad KRON isn’t what it used to be. Goes for all news stations. I really could care less about social media posts. Just report the news. Inform us. Enlighten us. Heck, every now and then a feel good story and something funny.
ReplyDeleteBack to KRON…The anchor team of Evan White and Emerald Yeh was solid. Posted a few days ago but want to add Marty Gonzales, Linda Yee, Greg Lyon…