FilioScotia

Update on local media types I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but I think Charlie Harrison has passed away. If he's still living he's very elderly now. Liz Brandt -- Houston's first lady TV weathercaster -- at KTRK -- died two years ago at the age of 79. Debbi Johnson now does media relations for the Texas Historical Commission over in Austin. Thom Dickerson is now with HISD in their media department. Ben Wilson is now Deputy Superintendent for Public Information for the Aldine School District. A high falutin' title for a guy who's essentially a PIO. John Getter -- last time I heard -- was an executive with an outfit called SpaceHab, a company that's working to design and build habitats for living in space. Good luck with that. Nancy Holland came through KPRC Radio as an intern in the mid 70s, and now, after years of first class reporting at KHOU, she's leaving for NYC where she will be an executive producer for an independent news service that provides video for the TV networks. Her husband already lives in NYC, where he's a high level TV news photographer, and she's been commuting up there on weekends to spend time with him. Now she's going to join him full time. Houston will miss Nancy Holland because she's just one of the best TV reporters this town has ever had.

This photo is a stark reminder of how early TV news was "a man's world", and the only thing women did was report "women's news", host cooking shows, or, in a few cases, do the weather. KTRK had a woman -- Liz Brandt -- doing the weather, along with Tom Evans. I remember Brandt's gimmick was a weather map drawn on a big pane of clear glass. She stood behind the glass, facing the camera, and drew the "frontal lines", rain showers and temps on the map with a big marks-alot. Her camera was set to show the reverse image of what it was seeing, so Brandt's writing was reversed and readable for viewers. An eye-catching gimmick. Liz had a great personality and she always did a great job. I hated it when she left in the mid sixties. Incidentally, Tom Evans also left in the mid sixties to start a private weather service at Hobby Airport -- he called it Universal Weather -- and he continued doing live weathercasts for radio stations -- most notably KIKK AM and FM in the 60s and 70s. Universal Weather is now Impact Weather, and, along with providing weather information for airlines and industry, they still do weathercasts for radio stations in Houston (KUHF) and some other cities.

Charlie Harrison was never the number one anchor He was KTRK's "utility" man who did a little of every thing. Commercials, station breaks, and news, weather and even sports on weekends. He also filled in in any of those capacities during the week as needed. They could depend on Charlie to come in on short notice and do any of those jobs and he never failed them. This was very early on in KTRK's news history, when news wasn't the major profit center it is today. Harrison was also one of the really nice guys in local TV for a long time.

Bob Allen replaced Dan Lovett, who moved to WABC TV in New York. Lovett is back in town now, retired, but keeping himself busy at one of the local independent TV stations. I don't think we can include Cronkite in this category because he never worked in Houston TV. He was long gone from Houston media before TV even came to this town. I just remembered another former Houstonian who's big with a network now. Dennis Murphy was a reporter and producer at KHOU in the late 70s and early 80s. He's now a contributing reporter on NBC's Dateline. Chris Curl was one of CNN's first news anchors when it was created back in the 70s. She worked at KTRK in the mid 70s. I have no idea where she is now. And oh yes, oh lord, let us not forget Linda Ellerbee. The story of how she got fired from the Associated Press and later came to work at KHOU is the stuff of legend. She called herself Linda Veselka then. If I can find my copy of it, I will share with you the embarrassing personal letter she wrote to her boyfriend one night, using the A-P's brand new computerized word processing system. It's possible that no one would have ever heard of Linda if she hadn't hit the wrong button and sent the letter out to every A-P subscriber in five states. She was fired and out on the streets before lunch time. An A-P staffer told me it took that long because that's how long it took to find the Bureau Chief, who was out of town on business. She was the talk of the state for some time. Six months later she applied for a job at KHOU in Houston, and the news director hired her largely because of the notoriety she created with the letter incident. She really did get her first TV job because of how she got fired from the A-P. Ellerbee laughs about it today. She knows it launched her career in TV. She keeps a copy of the letter as it appeared on the A-P newswire framed in her office. She even autographed the copy I tore off the A-P printer at my radio station that morning. I had a feeling it was something I should keep and I was right. There's nothing scandalous in it, but she did make some pointedly personal remarks about her boss. It's very funny.

KTRK's first anchor team was Dave Ward and Dan Ammerman. Jan Carson came to KTRK in the early 70s as a reporter. I'm not 100 percent sure of this -- memory is the 2nd thing to go when you pass 60 -- but I think she moved into the anchor chair alongside Ward when Ammerman left to go into the media training business, which was a new and growing industry back then. I expect to be corrected on that. Bill Balleza did work at KHOU. I've never heard why he moved to KPRC, but I doubt it's for the reason you heard. TV and Radio people change jobs all the time around here. Most of the time it's for more money. And while we're on the subject, I think the phenomenal number of former Houston TV reporters who now work for one of the big networks is a subject worth discussing. I sometimes think that as many as half the network correspondents you see on TV came through Houston earlier in their careers. I'm not including Walter Cronkite in this list because he never worked in Houston TV. Others who did include Roger O'Neill, John Quinones, Dan Molina, Bob Brown, Janet Shamlian, Janice Dean (Fox News), Paula Zahn, Dan Rather, Tom Jarriel, and this is just a short list of those I could remember off the top of my head. There are numerous others. The floor is open.

I had several friends who were Houston Post reporters, and worked in the Post building right next to the freeway. A couple of them were sent outside to cover the story and take pictures, before anybody realized how serious it was and was going to get. One told me later that the people who died instantly were stuck in the sudden traffic jam and made the mistake of getting out of their cars. Unfortunately, they were in the middle of the ammonia cloud and died almost immediately. Their bodies were found on the freeway and off on the shoulder. The lucky ones who didn't die were taken to hospitals all over the city. My friend said it was a sight he will never forget. I ran into him a few years ago, and he talked about it as if it happened last week.

That accident was certainly one of the reasons for banning hazardous cargoes inside the Loop 610, but hardly the only reason. Other HC accidents in future years finally prompted that policy. It's worth noting that the ammonia truck accident didn't happen inside the Loop. It was ON the West Loop, and the accident happened when the driver took the exit to 59 outbound. I was working at KPRC Radio News when the accident happened just after 11am that morning, and our news director jumped in a News Car to go cover it. He got too close and ended up in 12 Oaks Hospital just a couple of blocks from where it happened, along with dozens of others affected by the ammonia. That stuff was not household ammonia. It was pure undiluted industrial strength anhydrous ammonia that's used in a variety of industrial chemical processes, and it is deadly. One of my vivid memories of visiting my boss in the hospital was watching all the lawyers' runners going around to every room handing out calling cards saying give them a call. And lawyers wonder why the public has such a low opinion of them.

That is indeed what it was. I love the way TV thinks it found something new with the idea of bored, lonely and horny housewives. Lonely, bored and horny men have known about those ladies since time began. The link provided by sevfiv back up there in the second posting in this thread tells everything you ever wanted to know about the Four Palms.

Anybody here have the nerve to admit they ever went there? The Four Palms was a neighborhood bar on Telephone Road just south of Holmes Rd, which is now the South Loop 610. It was locally famous (infamous?) in the 50s, 60s and 70s for being what was then called a "pressure cooker club". It was like a singles bar, except everybody was married to somebody else and nobody cared. Lonely and bored housewives went there during the day whilst their husbands were at work, and the joke was that they kept dinner warm at home in a pressure cooker, hence the club's nickname. The ladies were there to meet their boyfriends, or just have a good time with anybody who showed up. Most of the time it was just for drinks and dancing, but the lighting was kept low enough for some making out, for those so inclined. It was common to see a man come in the front door, hear a woman's voice say "oh my god it's my husband" and then see her slipping quickly out the back door. Lord only knows how many divorces, and new marriages, can be traced to that place. Ah yes. Those were the days. Yes, I went there a few times, during my divorced period in the early and mid 70s. Met some great ladies and had some great afternoons with some of them. I've always wondered whatever became of them. I also wonder how many of today's 30 and 40 somethings ate those pressure cooked dinners, prepared by moms who spent their afternoons at The Four Palms.

About six months before the Freedom Train came to town, my late father-in-law played Benjamin Franklin in a production of 1776 at the old Royal Coach Inn Dinner Theatre. He was a very good actor, singer and dancer, but he got the part the minute he came through the door at the auditions because he looked just like every picture you've ever seen of Franklin, right down to the bifocal glasses. The director, Marietta Marich, took one look at him and said "he's our Ben Franklin -- I don't care if he can sing or not." She was thrilled when she learned he could carry the part with the same lively style and pinache as Howard Da Silva, the actor who did the role in the movie. He was great. So great that a few months later he got a call from the Houston Bi-Centennial Committee. They wanted to know if he would dress up like Franklin again, go to Austin to meet the Freedom Train and ride it to Houston. He did, and became the living symbol of the Bi-Centennial while the train was in Houston. He made a bunch of personal appearances at shopping malls and other places with the Freedom Train people and traveling exhibits, and I'm sure he spent time at the old Union Station too. He spoke six languages fluently, including Spanish, French and several Middle Eastern tongues, and it blew the Washington peoples' minds to see him speaking to just about anybody who came up in their native language. They wanted him to travel the country on the Freedom Train but he couldn't take the time from his work to do that. He always regretted not taking that road.

It has no competition. The Chron eliminated its only other competitor back in the 90s. They may think of themselves as a great newspaper, but the only way to have that status is to earn it through honest competition, and they don't have any. It won't get any better because it doesn't have to. They remind me of the old Houston Lighting and Power, which at that time was the only light company in town and acted like it all the time. Their attitude was "What are you going to do about it? Take your business somewhere else? Harharharhar!!" I hate to break it to the rocket scientists running the Chron, but they aren't the only source of news and information anymore. People have choices -- lots of choices -- and I've made mine. I cancelled my Chron subscription after that "Anna Nicole Smith was a bi-sexual lesbian" story. If I want to read tabloid trash I'll buy one of the rags in the checkout line at Kroger. I now get all my news from the Internet, and I think I'm significantly more informed than I was when I only read the Chron. I also don't get printer's ink on my fingers anymore. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing yet, because not all newspapers are as bad as the Chronicle, there are some good papers out there, but I fear the era of print journalism is nearing its end.

There's another one just like it -- identical -- on Hwy 6 between Longenbaugh and West Road. Right next to the Cyfair VFD station. A lot of weddings are held there too. And while we're on the subject, my son got married last year in the very beautiful Bear Creek United Methodist Church, and it cost considerably less than a thousand dollars. The sanctuary of this church is stunning. Check it out on this link to its website: http://www.bearcreekumc.org/about-us/weddings/

Dominique has NEVER covered a story, because the news director knows better than to let her outside the station. There's just no other way to say this, but she's an air head. She's one of those people who looks great on camera and who can read well with authority and sincerity. Outside those duties she's useless. And her news stories are written for her. That's what local TV news has come to, at least at Channel 2. I remember when KPRC TV had the most respected news department in this part of the country. That was a long time ago. Now it's just a warmup lead-in for Entertainment Tonight.

Don't you just love it when the Comical discovers a story that is old news for most everybody else in town? The Houston Press did that very same story back in 2000 just before the Houston trial over Smith's claim to half of her late husband's estate. The Chron acts like they just found out about it, which is probably true.

Back in the late 70s, my wife and I bought a new house in the Fallbrook Subdivision on West Rd at Steubner-Airline. Fallbrook was developed by an outfit called Suburban Homes, which, we later learned, had one of the worst reputations for customer service and satisfaction in town. A few weeks after we moved in, some small but very irritating problems started cropping up. I can't remember what they were, but they were related to the construction, and annoying enough for me to call Suburban Homes and ask them to come fix them. I called at least four times over a week, but my calls were ignored. Nobody ever showed up, so I decided to play hard ball. Suburban was still building a lot of spec houses in Fallbrook, selling them as fast as they could build them, and prospective buyers were always driving through looking at the new houses. So, I got a 4X8 foot piece of plywood, and painted these words on it, in large letters. "Don't buy a Suburban Home. You'll regret it". I placed the sign in my front yard. About two hours after the sign went up, I got a call from the very perturbed construction superintendent at Suburban Homes demanding that I take it down. I told him the sign would stay where it was until he sent someone out to fix the problems I had been calling them about for a week. That conversation happened around 11am. Around 2pm, a truckload of workers pulled up at my house, and all the little problems had been fixed by 5pm. I let them take the sign with them when they left. Our experience with Suburban Homes taught my wife and me some hard lessons about buying a new house, lessons that held us in good stead in future home purchases. They were known for building on the cheap and selling at cheap prices to inexperienced first time low-end buyers like us. I was not surprised, and I remember smiling, when Suburban went out of business in the 1980s.

That job, and blame for the nonperformance of same, must be laid at the doorstep of Mayor "School Bus" Nagin. The people of New Orleans re-elected Nagin on his promise to rebuild the city. He can't even get the sanitation department out to pick up the trash. And I'll ask again: why are you blaming Washington for that?

It was in a bigger documentary on the history of Chicago, and it will probably come around again on PBS at some point, but you can buy the video for yourself. Here's a link. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/chicago/index.html

NPR? Or PBS? Hard to "see" anything on NPR. NPR did do a story about this in October of 1997. Not a "documentary", but an interview with a Chicago city council member who says new research has cleared Mrs O'Leary's cow of starting the fire. Here's a link to it in NPR's archives. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1038129

I used to have a cousin who was so proud of being a Texan he refused to die anywhere else. He had a helicopter business, and he and his partner had bought a new chopper in another state and they were flying it to Houston. Somewhere over Louisiana he had a heart attack, and he knew it was bad and he was going to die. He refused to let his partner land the chopper in Shreveport so he could keep going and make it back to Texas soil before he died. The partner finally took the controls away from him near Nacogdoches and landed. My cousin was dead by the time an ambulance could get to him. His last words were that he just didn't want to die anywhere but in Texas.

I am so embarrassed. Throughout this thread I've been referring to the old San Jacinto Inn as the Monument Inn, and as we all know, they were two different places. It was the San Jacinto Inn that sat next to the Battleship for many years, and which was owned by the Jones family. My "senior moments" are getting more and more frequent. As for your question, a significant number of drunks have gone off that road into the water over the years.

You could be right, and I'm also questioning my own statements about it. It just seemed logical to me to pave dirt streets with bricks, because it did make it easier for cars to get around. But I think I may be wrong about that, because it now occurs to me that I've seen old 19th century photos of downtown Houston and brick streets were clearly visible. I will do some more research and educate myself before I weigh in with anymore half-baked pontifications. mea culpa

I don't think so. Brick streets made life difficult for people with horse-drawn carriages and wagons, because, for horses, there is almost nothing more slippery than wet bricks. Bricks were put down at the advent of the automotive age to make it easier for motor vehicles to get around -- not horses. Before then, streets were unpaved dirt wagon roads, rutted and often muddy, which made driving a car anywhere a dirty and miserable experience. Horse owners hated the brick streets because it was hard for a shod horse to have any traction, especially when it rained. And along with the rain, don't forget that at the turn of the 20th century, streets were covered with manure left behind by the many thousands of horses that plied the streets every day. I read somewhere that city workers removed thousands of pounds of manure from the streets every night. And we call that era "the good old days". Paving streets with cement was cost prohibitive, labor intensive, and still in the future, but bricks were cheap and plentiful, and they could be put in place quickly. And I bet the mayor or somebody at city hall either owned a brick factory, or had a relative who owned one. Somebody made a lot of money from paving streets with bricks.

There was a time when the Monument Inn was one of the best restaurants in that part of the county. That was when it was owned by the Jones family, of Houston Endowment fame. It went into decline when they sold it. Never was the same after that.

I hope I live long enough to see Houston reach the point where people here won't feel they have to "sell the city". From where I sit, a city that has to work as hard as Houston works to sell itself probably doesn't have much to offer. A city that's worth coming to see doesn't have to do much selling. I'm not talking about advertising the city in travel magazines -- advertising is fine and it works. I'm talking about this infernal inferiority complex that leads to sending delegations of locals around the country to beg people to come to Houston. If Houston ever gets to be a good "Destination City", word of mouth, and some creative advertising, will get that news around the country and people will come. You don't see New York, Chicago, San Francisco or Miami constantly selling themselves because we already know what they are and what they have to offer, and they don't have to beg us to come there. Just once -- JUST ONCE -- I want to see people in this town act like they live in a big metropolitan city -- instead of acting like people in a small town. Just once I want to see a famous person come to Houston and not see the local media ask them "what do you think of Houston?" Just once, let's act like we didn't just ride in on a watermelon truck, and furthermore we don't care what they think of Houston. You'll never see the local media in NYC asking tourists what they think of New York.