Jack Hanson, Popular Bay Area Television Weatherman, “AM San Francisco” Co-Host and Kiddie Show Personality, Dies at 91: Six-Decade Career Spanned KPIX, KRON, KTVU and Nearly 25 Years at KGO-TV

Jack Hanson, spending a quiet afternoon ay home on Nov. 26, 2023, reminiscing over his six decades in Bay Area television from the 1950s to the first years of the 21st century. He was 91 when he died 16 days later, on Dec.10. {Photo by Kevin Wing}

By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California

Jack Hanson, whose colorful career on the television airwaves of the San Francisco Bay Area spanned six decades, most notably for his nearly 25 years at KGO-TV in San Francisco, died peacefully early Sunday morning at his home in Marin County following a brief illness. He was 91.

1970s: Back to the days of an old-fashioned weather map in a TV studio. At KGO-TV, weatherman Jack Hanson is preparing for his nightly “News Scene” newscast alongside Fred Van Amburg.

From the late 1960s and on through the ‘70s and ‘80s, Hanson was one of KGO-TV’s most prolific and most popular television personalities. Relaxed, poised and always very comfortable in front of the TV cameras, he nearly did it all, from serving as a weatherman on Channel 7 “News Scene” with anchors Fred Van Amburg and Jerry Jensen to co-hosting the station’s’ popular “AM San Francisco” morning talk show alongside Nancy Fleming, who was crowned Miss America in 1961.

Hanson was born in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury District in 1932. After high school, he attended San Francisco City College for six months, then entered the Army, which was followed by a stint in the Navy. After he returned to San Francisco, he attended San Francisco State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the university’s prestigious radio and television department. 

The San Francisco native began his broadcast career in the mid-1950s working in the mailroom at KPIX in San Francisco after graduating from college. From the mailroom to becoming a stage manager, he went to work for KRON-TV, working on live shows such as NBC’s “Wide, Wide World”. 

Interviewing Dick Van Dyke on the popular “Jack’s Place”, a live talk show on KPIX in the 1960s.

Hanson’s first appearance on television was seen nationally when he appeared, in 1959, as a 26-year-old contestant on “You Bet Your Life”, Groucho Marx’s popular 1950s syndicated game show. Hanson traded barbs with Marx before taking home more than $2,000.

In 1961, he started doing regular on-camera fill-in work. Hanson began working for KRON-TV in San Francisco that year as a stage manager on the popular children’s show, “The Mayor Art Show”. One day, Art Finley, the series’ host, called in sick. Hanson stepped in for him. The rest is history.

This was followed by a 13-week stint as host of “Watch and Win”, a live quiz show on KTVU in Oakland. By the mid-1960s, Hanson was hosting his own show, “Jack’s Place”, on KPIX. He interviewed celebrities and, being the accomplished cartoonist that he was, he would also draw cartoons, much to the delight of Bay Area viewers. His cartoons ultimately became his trademark.

Top of the ratings: KGO-TV’s “News Scene” team of the late 1970s, with, from left, weatherman Jack Hanson, anchor/reporter Steve Davis, anchor Marcia Brandwynne, sportscaster Tom Janis, anchor Fred Van Amburg, anchor Jerry Jensen, meteorologist Pete Giddings and sportscaster Don Sanchez.

In the late 1960s, he joined KGO-TV as a weatherman. To help illustrate the weather, especially when Hanson was talking about extreme cold weather or a heat wave, he would draw cartoons on the weather map – such as one caricature of a shivering dog at the coldest spot in the country.

In addition to providing weather forecasts on KGO-TV’s top-rated afternoon and evening newscasts throughout the 1970s and through the early ‘80s, Hanson also did double duty, co-hosting “AM San Francisco” for five years, from 1977 to 1982. So popular as a talk show host, he was sent down to Los Angeles often to fill in as co-host for KABC-TV’s “AM Los Angeles” and “Mid-Morning Los Angeles”.

Hanson’s career at KGO-TV lasted through the 1980s. During that time, he also co-hosted the station’s live 40th anniversary special alongside Russ Coughan in 1989.

From the 1990s and into the 21st century, Hanson continued on television, appearing as host of “Comcast Newsmakers”, which aired on CNN in between the cable network’s news segments. 

As a published cartoonist, he also did artwork for the Sierra Club. Besides TV, he also appeared in movies, TV commercials and industrial TV programs. He also served as emcee for many charitable organizations’ telethons, including the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the San Francisco Youth Guidance Center.

The San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences inducted him in 2000 and 2008 into the distinguished Silver Circle and Gold Circle, respectively, for his more than 25 and 50 years of contributions to Bay Area and Northern California television.

Hanson is survived by his wife of 30 years, Pauline, and eight children.

EDITOR’S NOTE: On Nov. 26, 2023, Jack Hanson was interviewed at home in Marin County for a planned “Gold & Silver Circle Profiles” feature by Kevin Wing. Hansen died 16 days later. The feature will be published in January 2024.

Ann Fraser, Popular, Bubbly Co-Host of KPIX’s “People Are Talking” for 14 Years Beginning in the Late 1970s, Dies at 83

By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California

Aug. 20, 2023 — Ann Fraser, who arose from an already successful New York theater career to become one of the Bay Area’s most popular television personalities as the bubbly, upbeat co-host of KPIX’s long-running “People Are Talking”, has died.

Fraser was 83 when she died peacefully on Dec. 28, 2022. Her family did not announce her passing until the weekend of Aug. 19. She had been living close to her family in Milwaukie, Oregon, at the time of her death.

For 14 years, Fraser was co-host of the very popular KPIX talk show which always included a live studio audience. KPIX hired her as the solo co-host of its new morning talk show, “The Morning Show”, in 1977. The following year, in 1978, Ross McGowan joined her as co-host and the program was rebranded as “People Are Talking”. For the next 13 years, the weekday morning show became appointment television in the Bay Area.

Fraser was born in Evanston, Illinois, on Feb, 26, 1939. She attended Northwestern University and traveled to Korea with the USO to entertain American troops.

After graduating from Northwestern, Fraser moved to New York to begin her theater career, which included roles in “Sail Away”, “Oklahoma!” and “Brigadoon”. She was also a close friend of actress and singer Ann-Margret.

In the early 1960s, Fraser was in a command performance of “Brigadoon” at the White House for President John F. Kennedy, which was organized by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to honor the visiting King and Queen of Morocco.

Eventually moving to Chicago, Fraser began doing freelance work, which included everything from live demonstrations of how to fold fiberglass to performing as the first Egg McMuffin.

Ann Fraser and co-host Ross McGowan in a publicity photo for KPIX’s “People Are Talking”.

She also began her TV talk show career as a fill-in co-host on “Kennedy and Co.”, a popular Chicago TV talk show which aired on WLS-TV in Chicago.

In the late 1970s, San Francisco came calling. Fraser was hired by KPIX with the launch of the station’s “The Morning Show”. The following year, in 1978, Ross McGowan joined Fraser as co-host and the late-morning talk show was renamed “People Are Talking”. In addition to their in-studio broadcasts, Fraser and McGowan also took the show remotely for live telecasts from Napa State Hospital, San Quentin Prison and the AIDS ward at San Francisco General Hospital. One show, which created a lot of  buzz at the time, also originated from a nudist colony in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

“People Are Talking” on KPIX became so popular with Bay Area TV viewers that an afternoon companion show, “People Are Talking in the Afternoon”, was launched.

Fraser and McGowan entertained Bay Area viewers for 14 years until 1991, when the shows ended their long run. McGowan remained with KPIX until the following year, before joining KTVU in 1993 as host of its then still-burgeoning “Mornings On 2” newscast. Fraser would retire in 2000 to Sonoma County.

During retirement, she served as a trustee for 15 years for the Hanna Boys Center (now Hanna Center). She also performed occasionally, appearing in “A Rodgers and Hammerstein Revue” and “Love Letters” at the Raven Theater in Healdsburg.

In 2015, Fraser relocated to Oregon to be closer to her daughter and settled in a senior living community where she continued to be the life of the party.

Fraser is survived by her daughter, Jennifer, and her two nieces, Bonnie and Stacey.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hanna Center in Sonoma, California; Oatfield Estates in Milwaukie, Oregon; or the Alzheimer’s Association.

A celebration of Fraser’s life will take place in the fall.

Thank you, Ann, for your many enjoyable years of informing and entertaining us on Bay Area television. May you rest in peace.

 

 

Retired Veteran KTVU News Reporter Betty Ann Bruno Dies at 91; Appeared as a Munchkin at Age 7 in Judy Garland’s 1939 Classic “The Wizard of Oz”

Betty Ann Bruno, on set in the KTVU studios with anchor Dennis Richmond. 1980s.

By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California

Betty Ann Bruno, a well-known presence on Bay Area television as a longtime news and investigative reporter and show host for KTVU Channel 2 in Oakland from the 1970s through the 1990s, died July 30 in Sonoma County after suffering a medical emergency. She was 91. Bruno would have celebrated her 92nd birthday Oct. 1.

Bruno with husband, longtime KTVU cameraman Craig Scheiner. 1980s.

Her husband and partner of 46 years, Craig Scheiner, a retired longtime KTVU news photographer, said Bruno suffered a heart attack at a local hospital after rushing her there after she complained of having a severe headache following a hula dance lesson she was teaching.

“She loved hula dancing,” Scheiner said, “The last thing she did was dance with her students. Danced in her bare feet like hula dancers do. Couldn’t have had a better way to go, doing what she loved.”

Bruno worked for the Oakland station from 1970 until her retirement in 1992, first working in the station’s community affairs department, which she became acquainted with during her tenure as president of the League of Women Voters of Oakland. Bruno helped to produce election broadcasts and public service announcements before joining the department’s staff. She would eventually host Channel 2’s public affairs show. After a stint with that, she was persuaded to move to the newsroom, where she became an accomplished, three-time Emmy Award-winning news reporter. Besides Emmys, Bruno received numerous accolades and honors, including a presidential certificate from President George H.W. Bush.

In October 1991, Bruno and Scheiner lost their home in the Oakland hills to the devastating Oakland-Berkeley Hills firestorm, which destroyed more than 3,000 single-family homes, condominiums and apartments. The fire gutted more than 1,500 acres. When it was finally over, thousands of people lost their homes, and 25 people lost their lives.

Reporting in Oakland outside the Alameda County Courthouse near Lake Merritt.

Once the firestorm was over, Bruno and Scheiner allowed a KTVU cameraperson to walk with them as they surveyed what was left of their home. It had been reduced to ashes.

Although Bruno retired from KTVU in 1992, she remained with the station until 1994, working part-time. Many of her KTVU colleagues

“Betty Ann was such a good reporter,” said Bill Moore, a longtime friend and a retired KTVU photographer who worked at the station for three decades, from the 1960s to the ’90s. “She was a great person to work with. I have the highest respect for her, and I will miss her.”

“Betty Ann was an extraordinary woman,” said Rita Williams, another longtime friend and retired longtime KTVU reporter who worked at the station from the late 1970s to the 2000s. “She was kind to me when I joined the KTVU newsroom 43 years ago. And we’ve been friends ever since. Betty Ann had a zest for life and a youthful exuberance that stayed with her ’til the end. From child acting to politics to reporting to hula and lots in between, she was an inspiration. Never bitter, she forgave and brought people together. If there is a bright spot in her passing, it’s that she was doing what she loved and she left a part of her in the book she wrote, in the stories she told and in the hearts of all of us who knew and loved her. Blessings to Craig and her boys.”

“Betty Ann’s amazing talent was that she could get anyone to talk to her, anyone,” said longtime friend Gary Kauf, director of television broadcast operations and film at Ohlone College in Fremont and a former longtime KTVU reporter and producer for more than 20 years beginning in the late 1970s. “She was non-threatening, and gentle with everyone.”

Born in Hawaii and raised in southern California, Bruno graduated from Stanford University, and also did graduate work at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

At age 7, she was chosen to play one of the Munchkins in the 1939 film classic, “The Wizard of Oz”, starring Judy Garland.

After retirement, Bruno and Scheiner moved to Sonoma. In 2009, Bruno founded Hula Mai, which she called her “retirement career” — teaching hula and Hawaiian culture. Hula Mai performed in the Sonoma Plaza every spring and at luaus and other celebrations throughout the Sonoma Valley.

Officials with the Sonoma Cultural and Fine Arts Commission named Bruno the city’s Treasure Artist in 2020 and 2021.

We will miss you, Betty Ann. May you rest in peace.

Our sincerest condolences are with Craig and his family during this difficult time, and with everyone who knew Betty Ann as a trusted friend, colleague, teacher and mentor.

 

 

 

Bay Area, Northern California Television Professionals Honored with Gold & Silver Circle Induction; Christian, Sotiropulos Honored for 50 Years

 

By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California

TV people were everywhere in South San Francisco on a very special November Saturday afternoon to honor the 2022 inductees of the Gold & Silver Circle! For the greater television community of the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, it was certainly the place to be that day.

Eight honored television professionals representing the San Francisco Bay Area and northern and central California were inducted Saturday, Nov. 12 into this honor society of distinguished individuals, all of whom have been actively engaged in television broadcasting for 25 or 50 years or more and have made significant contributions to their local television markets and have distinguished themselves within the industry and the community.

A very fun and enjoyable afternoon it was for all in attendance, held this year at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco, to honor and cheer on these eight distinguished television professionals. Families, friends, and colleagues made up the more than 125 people who attended this very special luncheon. There are two very important and very special events each year in our NATAS chapter: The Emmy Awards Gala is one. This is the other. But, what sets the Gold & Silver Circle induction apart from the Emmys is that this event truly honors our Chapter’s history and heritage in a way the Emmys cannot. The induction luncheon is not only an event to honor the latest inductees, but it is also a special day that is much like a high school reunion. While new friendships are forged, old friendships are rekindled. It is a time to embrace catching up with one another face to face – and even more so now, because of the last three years of being in the pandemic.

And talk about a who’s who for 2022.

Honored in the Gold Circle Class of 2022 are Spencer Christian, KGO-TV ABC7 meteorologist, San Francisco; and Kopi Sotiropulos, news and weather anchor, KMPH-TV Fox 26, Fresno. Both men have worked in television for a half century or more.

Recognized in the Silver Circle Class of 2022 are Leslie Brinkley, KGO-TV ABC7 news reporter, San Francisco; Deirdre Fitzpatrick, news anchor and reporter, KCRA 3, Sacramento; Bill Green, KGO-TV ABC 7 news producer (retired), San Francisco; Bob Horn, KPIX 5 photographer, San Francisco; Dave Ramos, KCRA 3 engineer and SNG operator, Sacramento; and Rob Roth, KTVU Fox 2 news reporter (retired), Oakland. All six have worked in television for 25 years or more.

Jessica Aguirre, news anchor at KNTV NBC Bay Area, served as the afternoon’s master of ceremonies. She was witty and funny and entertained everyone with grace and good humor.

The afternoon’s festivities opened with greetings and introductions from Chapter President Brooks Jarosz and Gold & Silver Circle Committee Chairperson Joyce Mitchell (Silver Circle, 2010).

In addition to congratulating and celebrating the Gold & Silver Circle inductees, congratulations are also in order for 2022’s scholarship recipients: Shirin Bina, Laney College; Saul Ocana, California State University, Fresno; Karlee Hobbs, California State University, Fresno; Yen-Chi (Chris) Chang, University of California, Berkeley-Graduate School of Journalism; Mary Jane Johnson, University of California, Berkeley-Graduate School of Journalism; and Cesar Rojas Angel, University of California, Berkeley-Graduate School of Journalism.

The students were introduced by Chapter Education Committee Chairperson Toby Momtaz and received their scholarship awards following an opportunity for attendees to view their video production work on the big screen. Afterwards, the students had an opportunity to rub elbows with everyone in the room, sitting down to lunch with attendees and introducing themselves just like they did minutes before when they did some reception-mingling. Meeting attendees – many of whom were the past and present of our television industry – was a definite plus for the students. They are aspiring to be the next generation of television professionals. Not only are they following in our footsteps, they are, undoubtedly, the future of our television industry.

After the scholarships were handed out — and following the induction of the Gold & Silver Circle Class of 2022 — everyone offered a very special champagne toast to honor and recognize the inductees and the scholarship recipients.

Everyone enjoyed dining on Veal Roast Au Jus, Salmon with Champagne Sauce and Vegetarian Pasta, leaving room for the decadent Chocolate Mousse dessert that followed. Coffee and tea were available, and many enjoyed Earthquake Cabernet Sauvignon from the Michael David Winery, award-winning Chardonnay from Lightpost Winery and champagne from Guglielmo Winery.

There are now 27 Gold Circle inductees, and 291 Silver Circle inductees, dating to back to 2002 and 1986, respectively.

Nominations for the 2023 Gold & Silver Circle are being accepted now through April 15, 2023. The Class of 2023 will be inducted in the fall of 2023.

To nominate someone or yourself, visit our Chapter’s website for more details. Find our Gold & Silver Circle page at https://emmysf.tv/circles/.

We’ll have more to come in the months ahead!

Congratulations once again to all of the 2022 scholarship recipients and the Gold & Silver Circle Class of 2022!

Abrupt End to Legendary KGO Radio’s 80-Year History; News-Talk Format to be Replaced Oct. 9

San Francisco’s KGO-AM 810, a legendary fixture for more than 80s years on that position of the radio dial in the San Francisco Bay Area, abruptly left the air Oct. 6 without any warning, promising a new format that is set to launch Oct. 9.

At approximately 10:16 AM Oct. 6, KGO-AM 810 abruptly ended the news/talk format in the middle of midday host Mark Thompson‘s show; following a final station identification, the station began a loop featuring songs and promotional announcements referring to betting, money and winning. The promotions stated that a new format, billed as “The most unique radio station in the Bay Area”, would launch on Oct. 9, assuring listeners that they “can bet on it”. The station’s website was replaced with an announcement saying “Today we say goodbye to the legendary KGO,” thanking longtime listeners and supporters of the station and similarly promoting a “new era” to come Monday.

Though the station originally signed on in January 1924 using the experimental call sign 6XG, eventually becoming KGO.

KGO was part of a planned three-station network comprising WGY in Schenectady, New York, and KOA in Denver, Colorado. KGO was first known as the “Sunset Station” since it was General Electric’s West Coast outlet. At that time it operated with a then-impressive 1000 watts.

 

Michael Tuck, News Anchor at KTVU in the 1970s, Dies at 76; Went on to Illustrious Career in San Diego

By KARLA PETERSON | COLUMNIST, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE 

Michael Tuck

Michael Tuck made a name for himself as a television news anchor in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and especially San Diego. An illustrious career that included Oakland’s KTVU in the early- to mid-1970s, Tuck died in San Diego Aug. 17 at the age of 76.

in San Diego, during his high-profile decades on the KFMB-TV, KGTV and KUSI TV news desks, Tuck was the ultimate anchorman. He had the commanding on-air presence, the ability to pivot gracefully from breaking-news bulletins to heartwarming human-interest stories, and the confidence to share his opinions on polarizing topics, regardless of the fallout.

And Tuck had a voice. A resonate, self-assured, built-for-broadcasting baritone that made everything he said sound worthy of everyone’s attention. That voice and the journalistic chops behind it helped Tuck win multiple awards, including 15 regional Emmys, four Golden Mike Awards and the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award.

But one of his favorite awards from the recognition-rich 1980s came as a part of Disabled Awareness Week, when he was voted the most easily lip-read newscaster in town. For Tuck, who died on Wednesday at the age of 76 after a long battle with post-stroke complications, it wasn’t the voice that mattered.

It was the story.

“He loved that award because he loved to communicate,” Tuck’s wife, Jill, said. “He always felt like he was sharing a story. It meant a lot to him.

Tuck, at his desk at San Diego’s KFMB-TV in the 1980s.

His father, Irvin, changed jobs frequently, working at a dairy and in an oil field, but also as a teacher. Tuck described his father as a brilliant man and a socialist, and when Tuck began loosening his anchorman tie and speaking his mind about local politicians and hot-button issues during his sometimes-controversial “Perspectives” commentaries on KGTV, you could hear Irvin’s social conscience coming through.

“I think Mike might have identified with guys like (TV journalists) Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid,” said veteran San Diego sportscaster Ted Leitner, whose on-air banter with Tuck was always a highlight of the KFMB-TV broadcasts.

“He wanted to be more than the local news guy doing the live shot at the fire. He wanted to do something special. He wanted to do what the big boys did, and it worked out very well.”

Tuck’s fascination with broadcast news started with his older brothers, Cecil and Gene. Both men started off in radio broadcasting. Gene went on to become a news anchor. Cecil, who died in 2021, was head writer of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” In a 2000 interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Tuck remembered wanting to follow in his brothers’ fascinating footsteps.

“I was in awe of them,” Tuck said. “To me, the presidency of the United States took a back seat to what they were doing.”

With Tuck, awe translated into ambition. He studied journalism at Trinity University in San Antonio, and by the time he graduated in 1970, he had already put in three years at KENS-TV in San Antonio.

Less than a year after Leitner was hired by KFMB, an anchor position opened up there. Leitner recommended Tuck, and news director Jim Holtzman hired him.

Tuck started at KFMB in 1978, launching an award-winning, ratings-generating career in local broadcasting that made him one of the most high-profile people in San Diego media — and made his voice one of the most recognizable sounds in town.

“He was more than good. He was great,” said longtime reporter and anchor Hal Clement, who worked with Tuck from 1979 until Tuck left for KGTV in 1984. “He had everything you would want in an anchor. He had talent and presence and command. And he had that voice that commanded attention. It had a timbre that cut through everything.”

Tuck spent six years at KGTV, where he helped the station’s local news ratings climb from second place to first and stirred up passion and controversy with his “Perspective” commentaries, taking on everyone from America’s Cup winner Dennis Conner to the city of El Cajon. In 1990, Tuck left KGTV and San Diego for Los Angeles and its CBS affiliate, KCBS-TV.

Unhappy with station’s high management turnover and what he saw as an obsession with celebrities and sensationalism, Tuck left KCBS and returned to KFMB-TV in 2000. In 2005, he moved to KUSI, where he stayed until 2007.

Tuck’s survivors include his wife, Jill; his sons Collin and Jackson and his daughter, Tyler; his brother Gene, and his sister, Elizabeth Olivia.

Gil Haar, Longtime Bay Area Radio Newsman, Dies at 92; Worked at KCBS-AM and KYUU

By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California

Gil Haar, a beloved Bay Area radio pioneer considered a legend in the broadcasting industry who became best known for his memorable, signature sign-off after every radio newscast with “And that’s the news.. so now you know. I’m Gil Haar”, has died at the age of 92.

Gil Haar

Haar, of Millbrae, died Sept. 12, according to his friend and Bay Area radio colleague, John Evans. Haar passed away at Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame.

Born Eugene Lewis Gelhaar on April 18, 1930, in Kansas City, Missouri, his burgeoning radio career brought him to San Francisco in 1958. He began as a teen radio broadcaster in Kansas City before heading off to Wyoming in 1952, when he worked as a program director at KVWO in Cheyenne.

Remaining there for two years, Haar was the station’s program director. He then worked at KFBC radio and KFBC-TV in Cheyenne in 1956. His career eventually brought him to California in 1958. He became a newscaster at KMJ radio in Fresno, where he would remain until 1966.

That year, Haar was hired as news director at KNEW radio in Oakland, where he would remain for nearly a decade, until 1975.

Before retiring in the late 1990s, Haar became known to a new generation of radio listeners with long tenures at San Francisco’s KCBS-AM and KYUU.

A multi-award-winning radio journalist, Haar was the recipient of numerous honors, including best newscast from the California Associated Press Television Radio Association and best spot news from the California United Press International Broadcasters Association. He was a longtime member of the Northern California Radio Television News Directors Association, to which he also served on its board as secretary and vice president. Haar also served as president of the Northern California Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi.

Evans described Haar this way: “Under that tough exterior was a gentle giant, a gracious mentor and teacher, a man with a deep respect for journalism, radio news, storytelling.”

Haar was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Noralee, whom he cared for faithfully for many years after she became ill.  He is survived by his children, Meredith LaFlesh and her husband, Thomas, of Tacoma, Washington; Anastasia Pfluke and her husband, John, of Kihei, Hawaii; and Ned Gelhaar and his wife, Christina, of Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania; and by grandchildren Anthony Pfluke and Faith and Genevieve Gelhaar.

Leslie Griffith, Longtime KTVU Channel 2 Anchor/Reporter, Filmmaker, Animal Welfare Advocate, Dies at 66

By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California
 

Leslie Griffith, longtime news anchor and reporter at KTVU, died Aug. 10 in Lake Chapala, Mexico. Griffith, who was 66, worked for the station from 1986 to 2006.

Leslie Griffith, the highly-acclaimed and much-honored journalist who graced Bay Area television screens for 20 years as an anchor and reporter at Oakland’s KTVU Channel 2, died Aug. 10 in Lake Chapala, Mexico, where she had been living for the last several years. She was 66.

Her family said Griffith endured a years-long battle with Lyme disease.
The nine-time Emmy Award-winning Griffith worked at KTVU for 20 years — from 1986 to 2006 — beginning as a reporter and as co-anchor, with George Watson, for the station’s 10 p.m. weekend newscast. For several years in the 1990s, she anchored that weekend broadcast by herself, doing the same as well for a weekend early evening edition. In 1998, following the departure of Elaine Corral from KTVU, Griffith was promoted to anchoring the weeknight 10 p.m. newscast with Dennis Richmond, a position she held until she left the station in 2006.
Prior to joining KTVU in 1986 after being hired by news director Fred Zehnder, Griffith’s television news resume included a stop in Colorado Springs, Colorado, followed by a stint at KSBW in Salinas. Before entering television, she cut her journalistic teeth as a reporter for the Associated Press and the Denver Post. Prior to that, she worked as a teacher.
Throughout her 20 years at KTVU, Griffith received many accolades, including nine Emmys for her work. She was on the frontlines of many of the Bay Area’s major stories, including the devastating 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the massive firestorm that swept through the Oakland hills in 1991.
In 2006, she left KTVU and television news, but she was never far from being a storyteller. She continued to write, and prolifically, for publications that included the San Francisco Chronicle and the Huffington Post. And, concerned with the problem of tuberculosis in circus elephants for many years, Griffith championed getting elephants out of performing in circuses. In 2015, Griffith’s storytelling took her filmmaking. She was the brainchild behind her film, “When Giants Fall”, which she wrote and directed. For Griffith, the film spotlighted the ivory trade as a cruel business — that every 15 minutes, an elephant is killed for its ivory and that 65 percent of Africa’s elephants have been killed for their ivory in a span of five years. Griffith’s film went on to collect numerous accolades from film festivals across the United States. The film was also supported by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
A family member confirmed to KTVU that Griffith was suffering the effects of Lyme disease since being bitten by a tick while living in Oregon in 2015. She also had a home in Lake Chapala, Mexico, where she had been living since 2016.
Griffith is survived by her two daughters, Trenton and Carly, and by her adopted son, Eric. She is also survived by two grandchildren.

Joanie Greggains, Popular Bay Area TV Fitness and Exercise Host, Dies at 78; Starred in Popular “Morning Stretch” Program on KPIX

By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California

Joanie Greggains, the former physical education schoolteacher who went on to host a very popular fitness and exercise television show on San Francisco’s KPIX that was eventually syndicated nationally, died May 28 in Marin County, according to friends. She was 78.

Greggains began appearing on KPIX’s “People Are Talking” in the late 1970s, doing exercise segments with hosts Ann Fraser and Ross McGowan and showing the studio audience and viewers at home how to embrace a healthier lifestyle through fitness and exercise.

Through the years, Greggains’ appearances on the popular KPIX morning talk show were so popular that she was given her own exercise show, “Morning Stretch”, in 1982. It remained on the air for many years and was in national syndication until 1995. The program moved to cable, where it lasted until 2000. Greggains was so immensely popular with Bay Area viewers that KGO Radio gave her a show in 1985 which ran for many years, becoming the No. 1 Saturday morning radio program in the Bay Area. She also produced, choreographed and starred in 15 exercise videos, selling more than 10 million copies.

With her energetic, upbeat personality, her bright outlook on life, her infectious happy spirit from within and her down-to-earth way about her, Greggains became one of the Bay Area’s most popular TV and radio personalities ever.

May she rest in peace. She will be missed.

Craig Heaps, Retired Longtime KTVU Reporter/Producer and San Francisco-based CNN Correspondent, Dies at 68

By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California

Craig Heaps, a longtime San Francisco Bay Area and northern California television journalist who worked at Oakland’s KTVU for nearly three decades, has died.

Heaps was 68 when he died April 29 after undergoing heart surgery.

The veteran reporter and producer was also a longtime correspondent for the then-San Francisco news bureau of CNN.

Heaps retired from KTVU in 2014 after a nearly 30-year career there as a news reporter, producer and writer. He was hired in the mid-1980s by KTVU’s legendary news director, Fred Zehnder. He covered, among many stories through the years, the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 and the Oakland Hills firestorm in 1991, the latter of which was — at that time — the largest urban wildfire in U.S. history.

While working at KTVU, Heaps did double duty, carving out a long tenure as a news correspondent for CNN’s San Francisco news bureau, covering news stories throughout California and the West Coast for the Atlanta-based news network.

Before arriving at KTVU, Heaps was a reporter and anchor at KSBW in Salinas.

During the last several years, Heaps — who once said he was legally blind without his glasses — relied on the assistance of Chase, a black Labrador and a service dog for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Following Heaps’ death, the service agency officially retired Chase. The black Labrador will live out his remaining years with Heaps’ wife, Patti, and family.

Tributes from Heaps’ friends and colleagues have poured in on social media sites like Facebook since his death was announced in late April.

BREAKING: Bill Moen, Bay Area Radio Institution, Dies At 93; Longtime KABL-AM Morning Air Personality for 33 Years

By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California

Bill Moen, who became a Bay Area radio institution during his 33 years as the morning drive personality at KABL-AM, has died at the age of 93, it was announced May 9. Moen died at his home in Lake County on Easter Sunday, April 17.

During an era when the AM band ruled radio’s airwaves, Moen became a broadcasting legend in the San Francisco Bay Area, spending 33 years in the 7 to 9 a.m. morning drive time slot at KABL from 1960 to 1993. Moen was among Bay Area radio broadcasting’s greats of the ’60s era, which included Don Sherwood at KYA and later KSFO, Gene Nelson at KSFO and Frank Dill and Mike Cleary at KNBR, among others. But, while the others would eventually retire, Moen stayed on through the early ’90s in a Bay Area career that began when Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the final year of his presidency.

Moen, who was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2006, came to the Bay Area in 1960. The Minnesota native moved to California in the early 1950s to attend broadcasting school in Hollywood, then went in search of a way to get his foot in the door in radio.

His first job came in 1954, when he joined KFGO in Fargo, North Dakota. That was followed by gigs at KDAL in Duluth, Minnesota, and WDSM, also in Duluth. From there, he was off to a station in Houston before landing at KABL. It was there where Moen not only found stability, but immense success. His work at KABL afforded him recognition through the decades as one of the best in the business.

After 33 years, Moen left KABL in 1993 during a rebranding of the station that year and retired to Lake County. There, he was lured back to radio at Lakeport’s KXBX-AM for a 20-year run before retiring for good. He also entertained his Bay Area radio followers by joining “Classic KABL 960”, an online tribute to his former Bay Area station, on the Bay Area Radio Museum website, accepting an invitation by the museum’s own David Jackson.

KABLRadio.com will stream a tribute to Moen from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, May 20, and from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, May 22.