Don Welch, Bob Johnson and Darrell Patterson
In the early years of my television career, I met and worked with so many interesting characters. A few of them left permanent marks. One who comes to mind is Tommy Eason who I met in my first television job at WRCB-TV, Channel 3. He was a master class in getting from one story to another the fastest possible way. He was a skilled cameraman who knew the ins and out of a Bell & Howell 16mm camera. He knew almost every law enforcement officer within 30 miles by name. While he didn’t know it at the time, he was quite a mentor, preparing me for more challenging times. Tommy was the photographer and I was the reporter. We spent a lot of time together. He taught me all I know about filming with a 16mm camera. Except for the time I left a camera on the roof of the news car, jumped in and took off to a breaking news story. As I got on the highway and picked up speed, I was able to watch the complete destruction of a very expensive camera in my rear-view mirror.
`Another Channel 3 personality who left his mark was Don Welch. Don was a loose cannon who had great talent and a fiery attitude. Ultimately he worked at Channel 3, Channel 9 and Channel 12. Not to mention working in Nashville for a few months before he quit (on air) while doing the evening weather forecast for the CBS affiliate. Don at the time was the most skilled photographer at the station. “Grandpappy” Welch was a true performer. He died in 2017.
While I am remembering television news personalities I must include Bob Johnson who led WTVC-TV, Channel 9’s news for decades. Bob was smooth, talented, compassionate, and the most popular TV anchorman since Mort Lloyd in the ‘60s. He was the consummate professional. I worked beside him in the mid ‘70s filling in as an erstwhile weatherman for Don Welch who was training to be a pipe fitter. I was honored to work with Bob and Darrell Patterson, who was Sports Director for several months. Bob and Darrell were a great team. Bob died in 2020. Darrell has remained a friend for over 50 years.
Leaving television, I was blessed to work at the Chattanooga Times with columnist Bill Casteel. Bill was a miracle writer who could turn out a great column several days a week without breaking a sweat. He daily demonstrated a deep knowledge of Tennessee politics and Major League Baseball. He was a somewhat solitary soul whose wit had bite and ran deep. Many nights after the newspaper had been put to bed we would join managing editor John Popham, at a local tavern. Casteel’s tales of political shenanigans in his hometown of Athens, TN along with Popham’s accounts of covering the Jim Crow South for decades for the New York Times was reason enough to have a drink or two. Years later a gas leak leveled the tavern. Timing is everything.
One of the best things I did while news director at Channel 3 was hire Luther Masingill’s morning news man, Allen Jones. Luther was the most listened to radio personality and Allen gathered and presented the news each hour in the morning. Allen was impressively aggressive in getting short sound clips from newsmakers every morning. He joined Channel 3 and was often teamed with Don Welch. He later became an anchorman and then moved on to a Raleigh, NC station. After moving back to Chattanooga, he became a printing business entrepreneur. He has also remained a friend for over 50 years.
Note for young journalists: develop deep friendships; they are so important as you grow older. More next time!
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Fred Gault can be reached at avfred@gmail.com