THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 3, 1994 TAG: 9411030417
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
The late Robert W. Geske was honored Wednesday for his consumer affairs column, ``Sight Unseen,'' published in The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
Geske, who died in January, received the first Consumer Service Recognition Award in honor of his weekly newspaper column.
The award was presented to Geske's widow, Carolyn, by the consumer affairs division of the Virginia Beach commonwealth's attorney's office.
Geske won a wide following with his weekly column exposing scams and shams. For a time, the column was syndicated nationally.
His work had previously won a national award for an inquiry of a network of charities that collected millions of dollars and spent only a fraction for medical research.
``The paper allowed me to adopt a conversational, cynical tone. I've been in the business a while, but I've never gotten over getting mad when I see a confidence man or a shell game,'' Geske once said of his work. ``The column gave me a chance to get to the bottom of it and inform people and try to satisfy their curiosity without their having to empty their pocketbooks.'' ILLUSTRATION: Robert W. Geske was awarded the first Consumer Service
Recognition Award posthumously on Wednesday. ``I've never gotten
over getting mad when I see a confidence man or a shell game. The
column gave me a chance to get to the bottom of it and inform people
and try to satisfy their curiosity. . . '' he once said.
by CNB