Doug McDaniel

Ol' Hank Warren (God rest his soul) would come into the studio to take a pix with his Speed Graphic for a publicity shot or something, who knows. He would hang around awhile, then walk out and forget his camera, or as he called it 'cammera'. One time his cammera stayed in the studio for a week or more and he never missed it. We took it and put in the camera bag and pulled it up into the grid on a rope and tied it off. A few day later he came in looking for his cammera. Of course we got it down for him. I have lots of pix than Hank Warren took over the years. He was a very nice man, but he never took a pix that required him to bend over.

I will never forget I was in his photo lab the day I received the call that I would be a new father, Kevin Douglas McDaniel was born eight months later. He is now 39.

A Fletcher Austin story. In the olden days at the Wilder bldg. we did everything live (no such thing as video tape). They ran movies on film and did live cut-ins. Fletcher was doing the commercials on this particular show from Susie McIntyre's kitchen set. During the film segment he would rehearse the commercial and try to memorize the script (this was also before teleprompers). I was the floor manager on the show, whose job it was to let the talent know we were going on live. Fletch was very flustered on this script, he couldn't get it right.

We went on the air and he started on the script, about half way through he said in a very flustered way, "Damit, I can't get this dam thing right". FADE TO BLACK, ROLL THE FILM.

Of course I got the blame for him not knowing we were on the air. He said I didn't tell him we were going on, I said I did, that he must not have heard me, or whatever. My TV career was almost over before it began. He got over it and so did I.

One of my jobs as a mail clerk was to go to Grady Cole's office every afternoon to carry his stack of 78 records to the radio studio. His office was always locked with a deadbolt and one of his two sexual terries would open the door. Grady was not there much in the afternoon, but those two full grown women took great pleasure in making funny suggestions to me. As an 18-year-old, needless to say, I was embarrassed, I guess that was what they were after. One of them was a real looker too! (Anyone out there remember their names? Bet Rierson does. I think one was Madge.)

PS: His legendary cluttered desk was against the wall with papers from the edge at about 45 degree to a couple of feet high. He knew where everything was (they say).