We were covering the 1984 political conventions. The first was the Democrats in San Francisco held at the Moscone Center. Reuven Frank, who had been the first news boss at NBC, held what amounted to a “pep rally,” reminding all of us of NBC’s pioneering efforts in TV convention coverage and of the proud tradition that we were all a part of.

We were seated randomly in the hall and I found myself sitting next to Jane Pauley, whom I’d never met prior to that day. I ran the Washington bureau for the NBC stations group, she was the renowned anchor for the “Today” show and, while we fed material for that program, we had no direct relationship. Ms. Pauley didn’t know me from a chicken sandwich. During Frank’s talk she giggled and turned to me and said, “Aren’t we lucky?  Don’t tell anyone, but I’d pay them to be here. This is all just so exciting.” I was stunned by her enthusiasm and energy and, in truth, felt the same way. Here was a nationally known and respected anchor lady who had maintained the thrill of covering the big story as if she were a cub reporter. I was deeply impressed.

Over the following years, I did have the privilege of working directly with Jane. I knew of her background in local news at an Indianapolis station and knew the news director there who had nothing but praise for her. She’d made it to the network in her early twenties, via the NBC station in Chicago and everywhere she went she made friends and fans. She was the real McCoy. She loved her work and was truly appreciative of the opportunities she’d been given. She was also beautiful which, in our profession could have been an impediment, given that some might have seen her beauty and not her obvious skill and brains. But she overcame that handicap. She came to every assignment that I’d worked with her on with shoes shined and a positive attitude. She never caught the “anchoritis” bug which infected a lot of folks at her level. One day we were doing a shoot at a park in New York City, the temperature was in the 90s and we had to do several retakes of her stand up. Others that I’ve worked with would have complained, demanded that we hurry, but Jane just asked for water. She was a gem. A pleasure to work with. She treated all of the staff, camera folks, producers, gophers, with complete respect. That first conversation that I’d had with her was clearly not a fluke.

Some years later our national organization gave her a lifetime achievement award. At the dinner that evening my wife and I were seated with Jane at a small table which led to basic chit-chat. My wife, Laurie, didn’t work in the business and was somewhat intimidated, but Jane immediately put her at ease by discussing child rearing and the problems of parenting. She couldn’t have been more engaging or more gracious. NBC had made a terrible mistake in moving her off the “Today” show, but she took the hit like a trooper. She never complained and is still a factor in national news with the CBS Sunday morning program. And I have to confess that now, in my retirement from that industry, that I’m happy to be reminded every Sunday of what I did for a living and that Jane Pauley is one of the best examples of who we are and what we did.

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