The Ride of Our Lives - Episode 2
A Blessing in Disguise
In hindsight, I have concluded that the early Winnebago crack-up, though financially costly, served as a valuable warning signal.
We were amateur RV drivers ferrying valuable human cargo. Be alert. Check the mirrors. Stay in our lane.
That is what we did and had no other driving-related issues.
Knowing one’s limitations can be liberating.
When I was a 30 year old with zero TV News experience, my late-in-life ambition to become a reporter was hampered by two seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
My hockey-battered nose.
A dyslexia-caused problem when reading aloud.
I didn’t look or sound right, stumbling and stammering through every attempt at reading a news script, not the fitting image of a polished broadcaster.
OK, then don’t be that person. Be someone else. Be yourself.
That’s what I did, focusing most of my reporting on people like me, the folks who sometimes struggle to come up with the right word or expression, the people uncomfortable in the spotlight. They were me and I was them. A doctor re-broke my nose in order to straighten it. I broke the mold of the smooth talking reporter and rode a straight line to the network. My limitations became my calling card.
Back to the journey.
Thirty minutes after picking up my parents, the Winnebago’s lower storage bins had been ripped out by a concrete gas-pump barrier.
We picked up the pieces and kept going.
The Ride of Our Lives-Episode 2.
(Runs 5:32)
For paying subscribers, an inspiringly resilient man with a heavy Boston accent does what he can to work his way out of economic hardship.
Also, a story from my early days as a Phoenix sportscaster when some rules needed breaking.
