Harold Earnest Taft Jr. (September 5, 1922 - September 27, 1991), known as "The World's Greatest Weatherman" and "The Dean of TV Meteorologists", was the first television meteorologist to the west of the Mississippi River and held the post for 41 years.
Originally from Enid, Oklahoma, he joined the Army Air Corps during World War II, and went to the University of Chicago to study meteorology. Taft is the second lieutenant stationed in Maine on D-Day. Incorrectly, he has been listed as assisting Dwight D. Eisenhower in completing the date of the D-Day invasion, but unfortunately, this is just a legend. His input from Maine may have been of little help, but he was too young and inexperienced to be involved in such important matters. However, by Korea, he is involved in major decisions where weather is an important factor. He graduated from Phillips University in 1946 and joined American Airlines as a meteorologist.
Video Harold Taft
Television meteorology
In 1949, Taft and two American Airlines meteorologists, Bob Denney and Walter Porter, proposed an evening weather program to WBAP-TV (now KXAS). "We told them that we would present a three-dimensional look to the weather, and we would call it Weather Telefacts, because we wanted to explain the weather to people," he later said. The three meteorologists were hired, Taft as head of the meteorologist at a rate of $ 7 per show, and at 10:15 pm. on October 31, 1949, Weather Telefacts aired.
Harold's weather forecast also aired on WBAP radio, where Bill Mack's last personality called him "The World's Greatest Weatherman". Much in the style of the Chicago skipper Tom Skilling, Taft refused to fool his presentation, explaining the complicated meteorological concepts in layman's terms where needed and improving the charts with isobars and top-level diagrams. This is sometimes a source of conflict with KXAS manufacturers.
When the new management at KXAS planned to replace Taft in the early 1980s, grassroots campaigns bombarded the station with complaints. The bumper sticker proclaiming "I Believe Harold" is starting to show up and advertisers are threatening to withdraw their business. Management relented, and Taft remains a permanent part of the KXAS news program.
Maps Harold Taft
Disease and death
In the late 1980s, Taft was diagnosed with stomach cancer. During chemotherapy treatments, which made him fragile and bald, he presented a series of reports on his health problems. Despite the difficulty, Taft continues to forecast the weather. Even during the last year of his life, he continued to present weather reports on the news broadcast at 5 pm and 6 pm. One of his colleagues noted that he was so ill that he had to lie down and rest between the two news releases. His last weather broadcast was August 30, 1991, 41 years and 10 months after his first broadcast, and he died a month later.
As a devout Lutheran, Taft is an ordinary cornet player in St. John Lutheran at Grand Prairie and King of Glory Lutheran Church in Fort Worth. The funeral ceremony should be moved to St. Presbyterian Church. Stephen, one of the largest churches in Fort Worth, to accommodate the mourners crowd and live broadcast of KXAS. Taft's rival for 15 years, Troy Dungan's weather anchor from WFAA-TV, attended the service. She survived by her 2 children from her first marriage to Eleanor Huff Taft, Janice Taft Spooner and Earnest Taft, and several stepchildren from a second marriage.
Taft posthumously presented Award for Position Service by Meteorological Broadcasting by the American Meteorological Society. He received the award "in recognition of his warmth as a broadcaster and professionalism as a fortune-teller."
His widow, Pat, died in 1994, and his first wife Eleanor died in 2004.
Achievements and heritage
- In 1955, Taft served on the committee of the American Meteorological Society who recommended that the public establish what eventually became their Seal of Approval for broadcast meteorologists.
- Taft served as a colonel at Texas National Water Guard, and he was often referred to as "Colonel Taft" in the air, especially during the 1970s.
- In 1975, Taft was one of the authors of the book "Texas Weather" along with KXAS meteorologist Ron Godbey.
- In 1985, Taft testified as an expert witness on the wind shear, which he identified as the cause of the fall of Delta Air Lines Flight 191 on 2 August 1985 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
- In 1989, Taft was mentioned in Star Trek's fictional reference book "Worlds of the Federation" as Ambassador of the United Federation of Unions to the Izab planet, which is home to a leading meteorological institute.
- In September 2008, KXAS began providing Harold Taft Scholarships to undergraduate meteorology students in collaboration with the Lone Star Emmy Educational Foundation. The award was given by his daughter Janice Taft Spooner and her eldest granddaughter Denise Spooner Buckner.
- In 2002, Harold Taft recorded 41 years "the world's longest TV meteorologist" replaced by Dave Devall of Canada, who retired with 49 years of experience.
- As part of the opening of KXAS's new studio building in 2013, one of the three conference rooms in the new building is named for Taft. The Taft Conference Room features a mural printed on one wall with various Taft photo shots from all of his career with the station.
- At a ceremony held in June 2017, the Press Club of Dallas posthumously gave one of the 13 North Indian Legendes' confession to Harold Taft; it marks the first time the Press Club has acknowledged the deceased who was active on radio or TV communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
References
Further reading
- Rhoden, Gene (1991-11-30). "Harold Taft: The Greatest Weatherman in the World". Storm Track . Texas. 15 (1): 11. Ã,
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments