Saturday, January 16, 2021
Bill was the true old school journalist, the kind that I grew up with years ago. At WNYT I spent many afternoons and evenings working with him in our live trucks and it was an honor to be his tech. He was a complete professional and it was fascinating to watch him work. After his writing was done he preferred to edit his stories himself most of the time, accompanied by a can or two of Tab or Pepsi One. His desk in the newsroom would have so many stacks of papers on and around it that it was considered a landfill by many.
His wit, wisdom and character would always be front and center. The guy viewers saw on camera was without a doubt the guy off camera. He did not pretend to be anybody but himself. He had great sense of humor and his quips, comments and wise cracks were always on point and well worth the wait. As a shop steward for many years I had always looked forward to these during E-board meetings and I still use a few from him that I can remember. He also proved that you can apply baseball to anything and conducted most of our meetings dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, again drinking a can or two of Tab or Pepsi One.
As he was in life, as Local 21 President he was an advocate and a fighter tried and true. He fought hard for everyone and everything that he believed in large and small. Those battles had benefited Local 21 and its members in many ways to this day. And he did that as Local 21 President longer than anyone, 29 years. I’m a fighter too but I could never hold a candle up to Bill. He was my Union mentor and even now years later his shoes have been very hard to fill. I was shocked to hear of his death and will miss him.
With approval of our Executive Board, Local 21 has donated $1,000.00 to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern NY and $1,000.00 to the Committee to Protect Journalists, both in Bill's name.
