THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505180094
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
HERE IS TODAY'S local TV buzz:
Now this is what I call a great present - With his 61st birthday just days away, Joe Perkins, former WTKR executive, anchorman (when Channel 3's call letters were WTAR) and host of a show about the great outdoors, received the gift of life from surgeons at Sentara Norfolk General.
Perkins' long wait for a new heart is over.
The transplant took place earlier this month. Speaking by phone from the hospital's intensive care unit, Perkins said, ``I'm doing quite well except for going through this troublesome thing called rejection, which we anticipated.''
He sounded weary. I'd be surprised if he didn't.
Perkins said he's been touched by the calls and cards he's received. ``I never knew so many people cared about me.'' Perkins is an old friend to several generations of viewers.
And she also managed to look great on camera, too - Robert M. Anderson of the Virginia Beach Department of Fire Training Center, and others in the state task force who spent a week in Oklahoma City recently, asked a favor: Publish their salute to WVEC reporter Sandra Parker and cameraman Tony Church.
Your wish is my command, guys.
Of Parker's coverage of Virginia Task Force II, when it was helping to search for survivors in the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, the task force members said, ``While reporting from Oklahoma City the entire seven days of our mission there, Sandra's stories gave our families back home great comfort. Her reports on the team's mission became a great source of encouragement for team members.
``Photographer Church also worked tirelessly during our deployment to send back the best video possible. Both are assets to Channel 13's news operations.'' And entitled to a raise.
I think they're really nude in that commercial - How do you stop a channel surfer from surfing? Flash some bare bods on the screen.
That's what the folks at a local FM station (WWDE) are doing with their we're-all-you-need-to-put-on commercial. The dude on the bench waiting for a bus looks nakid behind what he's carrying. So does the babe with the boom box.
You can't have too much nostalgia - With Hampton Roads in a remembering mood as the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II approaches, producer Mike Sinclair of WHRO is pressing ahead with the sequel to ``Gone, But Not Forgotten!''
That documentary, which aired on Channel 15 in recent months, was such a hit that Sinclair can't wait to do ``Son of Gone, But Not Forgotten!'' He wants your help.
To re-acquaint viewers with life in these parts in the 1940s and 1950s, Sinclair is asking folks to share their old photographs and home movies with him. ``To show this area how it used to be,'' he said. His number is 489-9476.
Sinclair hopes to have the new ``Gone, But Not Forgotten!'' on the air in December. How about showing some of the great baseball teams put together by the armed forces here in World War II?
More praise for the folks in TV news - The Radio and Television News Directors Association, based in Washington, D.C., recently saluted WAVY (reporter Carolyn Castleberry and photographer Jeff Myers) for a series on abortion.
Castleberry is on maternity leave following the birth of a daughter, Lindsay Ann, earlier this week. The bambino weighed in at 7 pounds, 12 1/2 ounces. A reader (Claudine Allred in Virginia Beach) wants to know if Castleberry's returning to WAVY, or will she be a full-time mom?
News Director Gary Stokes said he expects Castleberry to be back as reporter and co-anchor of the 5 p.m. news when her maternity leave is up. Pop is WTKR sports guy John Castleberry. A reminder: Changing diapers isn't a spectator sport, John. MEMO: Larry Bonko's address on the Internet is rsue30a(AT)prodigy.com.
by CNB