THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 1997 TAG: 9701080028
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: 152 lines
IT'S BEEN A YEAR since Duane Harding last talked about highs and lows on television, but the waitress in Shoney's immediately recognized him.
``Hi, Doc. How you doing?''
Harding didn't tell waitress Dottie Grudzinski how he was doing.
Not really.
If he had, Harding might have bored Dottie with stories of how he still hurts from the injuries received in an automobile accident in 1987. And that at the age of 49 he suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome. And now something new has come along to bedevil him - narcolepsy, or the uncontrollable desire to sleep.
Dottie didn't have to know all of that when she took his order for spaghetti with meat sauce - hold the garlic bread.
You and I don't have to know all of this, either.
But Harding feels obliged to share at least some of his life with the thousands of people, including readers of this column, who rallied around him a year ago when WTKR announced it would not extend Harding's contract. He feels he owes you something.
It was last January when Harding, the college professor and Ph.D. turned TV weather reporter with an immense following here, was jerked off the 6, 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts. ``Doc'' was gone, just like that.
Channel 3's paychecks kept coming until last July. Now that they have stopped, Harding is having a hard time paying the mortgage.
His medical benefits also ran out.
His savings are about gone. His wife doesn't work. Harding said he is thinking of selling his Virginia Beach home.
He hasn't been idle. Harding volunteered at Nauticus, talking to school kids about hurricanes, and he's been writing about weather and gardening for a new Norfolk weekly. ``I've been busy, pretty active,'' he said.
Some money has come in. But it hasn't been close to the TV salary he's earned first at WVEC and later at WTKR.
``I miss television,'' Harding said.
And he would like to get back into it. Unless there's some clause hidden away in the fine print of his last contract with WTKR that prohibits it, Harding believes he is free to work for another station in this market.
He doesn't think he can work full-time, however.
``I tire easily. My doctors tell me to avoid stress.''
Harding was a college professor, a respected teacher, before he was called one weekend to substitute for a TV weatherman. That's how his TV career was launched, with Harding bumping into the cameras and flubbing lines.
He's tried teaching since WTKR dropped him in favor of three younger weather reporters who are competent but, in my opinion, really haven't caught on. Since Harding left, Channel 3's ratings at 6 p.m. are down a bit - from a 12 rating and 23 share to an 11 rating and 21 in the November 1996 sweeps.
``I found teaching this summer to be too difficult,'' said Harding.
What's the answer, then? Harding could work a half-day at a TV station.
Might he be hired by a station other than WTKR in this market? It could happen. WAVY recently added Carol Horton to its Saturday morning local news strip. (Horton also works for WFOG-FM and is assistant editor at Port Folio.) She was the first to go when the new owners at Channel 3 began changing the look of the CBS affiliate. Harding and sports reporter Jim Hale followed.
It's no secret that WAVY is planning a 10 p.m. local newscast for WVBT, the Warner Brothers' station for which the Channel 10 brass does the programming. Hey guys, Duane Harding needs work. The man is about to lose his home.
It hasn't been all bad, this forced idleness, said Harding. He's home now to see his two children growing up. And would you believe that he's still answering letters from people who wrote and offered support after WTKR abruptly ended his 12-year career in broadcasting here?
He still wonders why, exactly, Channel 3 let him go. Was it because he thought the idea of broadcasting neighborhood weather was silly and unworkable? Or was it because Harding's health problems made his TV image older than his years at a time Channel 3 was striving to pull young viewers away from WAVY?
``Nobody ever came to me and said what was wrong,'' said Harding, finishing up his spaghetti at Shoney's.
``You look great, Doc,'' said Dottie, the waitress. No lie.
He may not feel well, but the man looks fit - thin, to be sure, but smiling frequently and in good spirits. The flecks of gray in his moustache give him a distinguished look - the look you like in a guy who'll be telling you if tomorrow's weather is something to worry about.
IT'S BEEN A YEAR since Duane Harding last talked about highs and lows on television, but the waitress in Shoney's immediately recognized him.
``Hi, Doc. How you doing?''
Harding didn't tell waitress Dottie Grudzinski how he was doing.
Not really.
If he had, Harding might have bored Dottie with stories of how he still hurts from the injuries received in an automobile accident in 1987. And that at the age of 49 he suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome. And now something new has come along to bedevil him - narcolepsy, or the uncontrollable desire to sleep.
Dottie didn't have to know all of that when she took his order for spaghetti with meat sauce - hold the garlic bread.
You and I don't have to know all of this, either.
But Harding feels obliged to share at least some of his life with the thousands of people, including readers of this column, who rallied around him a year ago when WTKR announced it would not extend Harding's contract. He feels he owes you something.
It was last January when Harding, the college professor and Ph.D. turned TV weather reporter with an immense following here, was jerked off the 6, 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts. ``Doc'' was gone, just like that.
Channel 3's paychecks kept coming until last July. Now that they have stopped, Harding is having a hard time paying the mortgage.
His medical benefits also ran out.
His savings are about gone. His wife doesn't work. Harding said he is thinking of selling his Virginia Beach home.
He hasn't been idle. Harding volunteered at Nauticus, talking to school kids about hurricanes, and he's been writing about weather and gardening for a new Norfolk weekly. ``I've been busy, pretty active,'' he said.
Some money has come in. But it hasn't been close to the TV salary he's earned first at WVEC and later at WTKR.
``I miss television,'' Harding said.
And he would like to get back into it. Unless there's some clause hidden away in the fine print of his last contract with WTKR that prohibits it, Harding believes he is free to work for another station in this market.
He doesn't think he can work full-time, however.
``I tire easily. My doctors tell me to avoid stress.''
Harding was a college professor, a respected teacher, before he was called one weekend to substitute for a TV weatherman. That's how his TV career was launched, with Harding bumping into the cameras and flubbing lines.
He's tried teaching since WTKR dropped him in favor of three younger weather reporters who are competent but, in my opinion, really haven't caught on. Since Harding left, Channel 3's ratings at 6 p.m. are down a bit - from a 12 rating and 23 share to an 11 rating and 21 in the November 1996 sweeps.
``I found teaching this summer to be too difficult,'' said Harding.
What's the answer, then? Harding could work a half-day at a TV station.
Might he be hired by a station other than WTKR in this market? It could happen. WAVY recently added Carol Horton to its Saturday morning local news strip. (Horton also works for WFOG-FM and is assistant editor at Port Folio). She was the first to go when the new owners at Channel 3 began changing the look of the CBS affiliate. Harding and sports reporter Jim Hale followed.
It's no secret that WAVY is planning a 10 p.m. local newscast for WVBT, the Warner Brothers' station for which the Channel 10 brass does the programming. Hey guys, Duane Harding needs work. The man is about to lose his home.
It hasn't been all bad, this forced idleness, said Harding. He's home now to see his two children growing up. And would you believe that he's still answering letters from people who wrote and offered support after WTKR abruptly ended his 12-year career in broadcasting here?
He still wonders why, exactly, Channel 3 let him go. Was it because he thought the idea of broadcasting neighborhood weather was silly and unworkable? Or was it because Harding's health problems made his TV image older than his years at a time Channel 3 was striving to pull young viewers away from WAVY?
``Nobody ever came to me and said what was wrong,'' said Harding, finishing up his spaghetti at Shoney's.
``You look great, Doc,'' said Dottie, the waitress. No lie.
He may not feel well, but the man looks fit - thin, to be sure, but smiling frequently and in good spirits. The flecks of gray in his moustache give him a distinguished look - the look you like in a guy who'll be telling you if tomorrow's weather is something to worry about. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff file color photo
Once happy at WTKR, Duane Harding now is having a hard time paying
the mortgage.