Each week, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal’s Tony Taglavore takes to lunch a local person – someone who is well-known, successful, and/or influential, and asks, “What’s Your Story?”
By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
Eight months without work.
“That was tough, man. That was tough.”
The proud husband and father of a young boy was THE man when it came to local television news in Boise, Idaho. But after six years as the main anchor at the city’s “gorilla station”, there was a change in management, some disagreements, and a contract which wasn’t renewed.
“I’m almost 40 – pretty much in the prime of my career. I still had a ton of energy. I still wanted to get after it. To be shown the door, and then to have a hard time – I had never had a hard time getting a job. I was shooting higher. It was just hard to clear some of those bars. It was demoralizing.”
But as sometimes happens in a job search, the drought quickly turned into a flood. Three suitors came a callin’ at the same time, each with an offer in hand. The Oklahoma native and big TCU Horned Frog fan could stay in Boise as a weekday anchor and reporter at another station, move to Eugene, Oregon as a weekday anchor and reporter, or head back south to Shreveport as a weekend anchor and reporter.
Professionally, it was a no-brainer. Take either the Boise or Eugene offer, as working weekends would be a step back. Personally, the choice wasn’t so easy.
“I told (my wife) Cheryl I wanted to stay in Boise. I really liked it.”
Cheryl didn’t speak. Her tears did the talking.
“She really wanted to get back closer to home and her family. That was the main driver for coming here . . . . I loved this woman. I loved her family. I didn’t want to see her crying.”
So, the three packed up and moved south. But what looked like a career step backwards became a personal step forward.
“Our son was 10 years old. (Cheryl’s) parents hadn’t seen him play a little league game or anything like that . . . . We enjoyed lots of great family time after we got back here.”
Gerry May, who retired just more than two years ago after a 37-year career in television news (22 years at our local ABC Affiliate), told me that story – and his story – during lunch at a place he chose, BeauxJax Crafthouse. Gerry had the Cajun Hibachi Bowl, and an Arnold Palmer to drink. I had the Bourbon Street Cobb Salad, and a water with lemon. (A restaurant staff member recognized us as two old TV has-beens.)
Early in life, Gerry was bitten by the television bug. Growing up in Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, and Ardmore, Oklahoma, he and his family would eat dinner and gather around the TV.
“We were kind of the typical, old-fashioned family. We watched the news in the evening. On cable, we would get the news from Dallas. I was going to be the best sportscaster ever in Dallas. That was what I wanted to be. That was my goal.”
And Gerry worked toward that goal, majoring in Radio and TV – with a minor in Journalism – at the University of Texas at Arlington. He gained some on-air experience, and even got an up-close look at the Texas Rangers, as a four-year member of the major league baseball team’s grounds crew.
“I’ve got an autographed baseball collection that’s pretty impressive. We were shagging early batting practice. I would get a nice, new, white ball, put it in my pocket, and get it signed by someone later. Yogi Berra might be my favorite signature.”
Gerry’s first job out of college was as the third string “sports guy” at a television station in Sherman, Texas – where he met Cheryl, his wife of now 38 years. But Gerry rarely appeared on-air. That is, until a near tragedy set the direction for his award-winning career.
“One afternoon, there was a small plane in trouble at the airport. The pilot couldn’t get his landing gear down. He was circling the airport – and the cows – burning off fuel. I get out there. I put my camera on the tripod. I see he’s coming in to make a belly-landing. I got this beautiful shot – this beautiful, steady pan, of a small plane coming down. There was an amber sunset through the leafless trees in the background. The plane skids to a stop. Sparks fly from the belly. (The pilot) jumps out and runs.”
Close to news time, Gerry hustled back to the station.
“I handed them the tape. They rolled it raw. They said, ‘Go out there and (talk) with the anchor.’ I ad-libbed about what I knew and saw. Afterwards, they told me to put a story together for the 10pm news. Then they said, ‘That was good. You are now a one-man band reporter.’”
A star, albeit in a tiny market, was born.
“That was a turning point that totally changed the trajectory of my career – my life.”
Gerry would travel the country as a news anchor and reporter in places like Wichita Falls, Texas, Decatur, Illinois, and Ft. Smith, Arkansas, where the entire news department was eventually laid off.
“I thought about leaving the business. That was brutal.”
But Gerry stayed the course, which took him to Bakersfield, California, Boise, then Shreveport. He never made it to Dallas and doesn’t regret it.
“I didn’t miss any of (his son) Travis’ little league games. Somehow, I made all of those. I saw a lot of his baseball games when he was playing at (Captain) Shreve. A place like Dallas? That probably gets pretty difficult.”
Gerry reported thousands of stories during his time in TV, including the Northridge, California earthquake which killed at least 57 people, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in which almost 1,400 people died. But none of his work – anywhere – meant more than the weekly Hometown Patriot series Gerry produced for 12 years.
“The first veteran I featured was Judge (Tom) Stagg. We go to his chambers for the interview. He pulls out this bible – this little pocket bible – that had a bullet hole through it. He kept it in his chest pocket. It saved his life in World War II. I thought, ‘This is going to be a hell of a series. This is going to be good TV.’”
It was, and still is, as the station continues the series with a different reporter.
“It turned out to be the greatest thing, not only from a professional standpoint, but from a human standpoint. Meeting these people – the greatest people. Incredible stories. We’ve got heroes living amongst us . . . . I’m blown away by some of the people I met.”
Now in retirement at the young age of 62 (“I feel kind of guilty sometimes that I’m not working”), Gerry meets people like those in his homeowner’s association, of which he is president. He meets people who share his love for golf when he works as a marshal at Querbes Park Golf Course. And he thinks back to people he met traveling along his broadcasting road – a road that, at times, had some self-induced potholes.
“Early in my career, I wasn’t the nicest teammate. I was fiercely competitive. I just wanted to beat the other guys. Beat them to the story or do the story better than them . . . . I burned what should have been some friendships with colleagues . . . . I needed to do some growing up. Work is not the most important thing in the world. It seems so stupid talking about it now.”
I could have talked with Gerry all day. But I knew even in retirement he had things to do, like enjoy time with his two grandchildren. So, I asked my final question. As always, what is it about his story that might be helpful to others?
“It’s never too late to be kind to people . . . . When you’re done working somewhere, they’re going to remember how you treated others. How you treated them. They’re probably not going to remember the work you did. They’re going to remember who you were as a person.”
Do you know someone with a story? Email SBJTonyT@gmail.com.
The Journal’s weekly “What’s Your Story?” series is sponsored by Morris & Dewett Injury Lawyers