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Jim B. Morris, Atlanta (former WCBS writer-producer) 5/23/07

Blast from the past indeed.

I've attached an item that might qualify for the News 88 archives -- it's an ad that appeared in Broadcasting magazine not long after the 1977 NY City blackout. All of our names are listed.

I was motivated to write today because my wife and I had coffee last night with Rich Buckley (also mentioned in the ad). Rich, who lives in St. Louis now, was a writer at WCBS-AM until about 1979. He was in Atlanta (where I live) for a business trip.

I'm in regular contact with Mike Talley who was a desk assistant when I arrived at WCBS in 1975. Mike (he now prefers "Mick") has been a stock broker/investment advisor for past 30 years or so. Still lives in Manhattan.

I'm also still in touch with Craig Dellimore who (as you probably know) is at WBBM in Chicago.

I used to swap occasional e-mails with Allegra Branson (we have the same birth date), but we have lost touch.

I still see Liz Shanov's husband (Larry Marotta) about once a year when he comes to Atlanta on business, or if I'm out in L.A., where he lives. Liz was just 49 when she passed away a few years ago (brain cancer).

I have e-mail addresses for Dave (M. David) Levin, Harvey Hauptman and Todd Glickman. I've also attached a photo of Todd, Allegra, Gary Maurer and me -- circa late 70s/early 80s.

I've read about many of the folks who've passed on. But I didn't know about Pat Parson til I saw it on Don's site.

A brief catch-up on me:

I was at News 88 from late 1975 until I went to the network in early 1982. That year, CBS started a "young adult" network called RadioRadio (remember that name!??!).

I got married in 1987 and worked at the Broadcast Center until 1990 when we moved to Atlanta -- my wife (who had been at HBO in NYC) was offered a job at one of the Turner Broadcasting entertainment cable networks and I joined CNN as a TV newswriter. This happened just a few months before the first Gulf War.

When CNN launched CNN.com in 1995 I was one of the original staffers and became a senior writer for the website. I was among hundreds of CNN people laid off in 2001 in the aftermath of the AOL/Time-Warner merger.

Since then, I've been working various freelance jobs but I don't miss writing news. In fact, I still recall rushing to write the News 88 top-of-the-hour headlines and dashing them into the studio with just seconds to spare. That said, however, I still prefer getting my news from the radio. These days, my preference is NPR.

Jim B. Morris
Publicity + Communications
404-634-9054
jimbmorris@yahoo.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimbmorris

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