One of the "Good Guys"

Way, way back, about 40 years back, I worked at a family-owned, 1000 watt, daytime AM radio station. Yep, a dinosaur, these days, but a popular Top 40 station in those days. FM was still, for the most part, "elevator music". Yeah, I know. Hard to believe, isn't it?

During my several decades in radio and TV, plus a stint in law enforcement and commercial photography, I've had a lot of bosses. Depending on my position at the time, I either reported to an immediate supervisor that was a news director, a sergeant, or the general manager. It depended on where I was in the food chain.

I can honestly say that of the dozen or more "bosses" I've had, I can only recall two real jerks. The others were dedicated, hard working guys, and I had a lot of respect for them.

Back to the radio days. At the aforementioned station, our program director was always looking for promotional, for lack of a better word, "gimmicks". One that proved popular was the daily Good Guy Award. From newspaper articles, our own news stories, various civic club announcements, as well as from our listners' suggestions, we selected a "Good Guy" each day, someone with outstanding character, someone who's actions earned him/her our recognition. Not a bad thing to be airing, for sure. The actual award wasn't much, at least it didn't seem that way. Just a certificate, as I recall. Maybe a movie pass or two. But, our "Good Guys" got their names mentioned, several times each day, on the air. And, according to them, that was more than enough recognition.

Three years ago, today, 12 January 2008, I lost a friend...a boss. Karl F. Davis was, without a doubt, one of those "Good Guys". At 59, just a few months shy of his 60th birthday, this energetic man was doing one of the things he loved best. He was riding his motorcycle, along with a group of other riders, in Bladen County. It was a nice day, not too cold. As it happened, on a curve, his bike slipped off the pavement, and in attempting to regain control, he was thrown from the motorcycle. Karl did not make it.

I first met Karl about 2001, could have been 2002. My boss, at that time, introduced us, and we had dinner. Karl was applying for the position of general sales manager at the station where I was news director. I immediately took a liking to this man. As it turned out, we were born the same year, only a few days apart. The town, Wilmington (NC) was not exactly where Karl envisioned working, but, as he put it, he came for the interview because the then general manager had asked him to "just come take a look". Many times, over the coming years, Karl recalled how he called his bride, Kathleen, and told her that he'd leave it up to her, but that he just wanted her to "come for a visit", check out the place. The rest became history. They came, they saw, they liked, they settled. Karl intended to work there until he retired, at age 66. We had a bit of a deal in the works. We'd retire at the same time, on our 66th birthdays.

The folks in Wilmington, first at the station, then pretty much the entire community, came to like Karl and Kathleen. Efficient, mostly no nonsense...Karl made a difference. A great legacy to leave behind, for sure. He was easy to work with (he, like my dad, said folks didn't work for him, they worked with him), he was interested in the station's busienss, he was concerned about problems, personal and professional, that his co-workers had.

As time went by, and two general managers came and went, it was time, in late 2004, for Karl to "get the nod" from the corporate big guys. He was named general manager and took over on 1 January 2005. His personality didn't change. His style didn't change. The pressures on him did change, but he handled them well. Even though that meant spending even more than his normal extra time at work.

His commitment to the station and to Wilmington was remarkable. He showed up at station events; he showed up at weekend events where station personnel were the guest hosts (yep, reporters and anchors spend a lot of their own time at community events); he was pretty much everywhere. And, he did editorials. He didn't like it, at first, but he actually got into the swing of things. That's when he found out that he could not go anywhere, incognito. He was a star in his own right. And, his public loved him. His common sense approach to editorials, well, they just made sense. And, people loved them. I know, because I was on the e-mail stream for all comments made about the editorials.

Karl was visible at all hours of the day and night, weekends, holidays...whenever...at the station. He'd pop in, not because he had some sort of business to discuss, but...just because. He was like that. He was concerned. He was involved. He cared.

Karl had a way of managing operations that others can learn from. Involved as he was, he not only allowed, but he insisted, his department managers run their departments. He was always available for consultation, at any hour, and he almost never second-guessed a department head's decision. He was like that. He was, with a doubt, a "Good Guy".

Karl F. Davis.
1948-2008.