Wednesday, February 21

ENG Lured Me Away From My Hollywood Dreams

I don’t recall having great aspirations when I was a kid—other than I didn’t want to be a coal miner like my dad. BTW, he’s finally retiring from this year with more than 40 years behind him in hard labor.


In high school I developed an interest in
applying to film school to become a director or producer. I’m such a geek—George Lucas was my god at the time. I wanted to become the next Lucas or Spielberg. I saw Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark too many times in the theater (those were the days before video and DVD releases). I remember buying one ticket and sticking around for all the shows that afternoon. Then I saw Alien and developed a fondness for suspense and horror. Imagine what The Shining with Jack Nicholson did to my young mind...

Unfortunately, there are no film schools in West
Virginia. My family was supportive in my choice to go to college, but Mom and Dad insisted I stay close to home. Perhaps a fine American Baptist school, despite being a United Methodist. So I landed at Alderson-Broaddus College in the Speech Communications program focused on broadcasting. After a class in journalism and working at WQAB in radio news I landed a full-time job at WELK in nearby Elkins doing the news. I immediately made the jump as a one-man band journalist at WBOY-TV. My path wandered Down East to WITN in North Carolina. Later it took me to KSBH in Kansas City then to the University of Kansas and KUJH & KJHK. I found myself at WPXI in Pittsburgh and then this crazy road brought me here to Titan Radio and WCN. Some how my journey skewed toward news and I’ve been a broadcast journalist since I started this back in 1985.