Thursday, October 29, 2015

THROWBACK THURSDAY

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

She had to then go through a Senate confirmation hearing.

Since she was from Arizona, KPNX-TV in Phoenix sent a crew to Washington to cover it.


Photographer Wally Athey, reporter Ron Talley, anchorwoman Linda Alvarez, field producer Bruce Taylor.

We were on top of a building which housed the editing facilities and the satellite uplink we rented. I think there was a view of the Capitol somewhere in the distance.


A quiet moment of conversation between Talley and Taylor in the hallway outside the hearing room.

Here's a little tale about Ron Talley. His real name is Ron Thompson but when he came to work at KTAR-TV, the station had an anchorman named Ray Thompson.

So they changed the young reporter's name and he became Ron Talley for evermore.

The station also changed its name, later becoming KPNX-TV.

Oh, and Sandra Day O'Connor?

She was confirmed and spent 25 years on the high court.

8 comments:

  1. And regrets to this day her vote in Bush v. Gore

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  2. I just love these posts - the clothes alone take me back :)

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  3. Guess we can those the good old days, when local television stations staffed well and covered real news. I remember them fondly.

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  4. Cool! Visiting Washington on some one else's dime. :)

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  5. How fun to have been there for that moment in history. Sandra Day O'Connor is a remarkable woman.

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  6. I was an admirer of Sandra Day O'Connor, even though she leaned Conservative, She was thoughtful and broke ranks with her conservative fellow justices when she thought it necessary.

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  7. You really happened to be there at the time when News were real News! It seems to me that I have to fight every day to find out what is true and what is not...

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