Fred King

I am saddened by the recent death of longtime Pioneer Valley TV and radio personality Fred King, whom I photographed above in the WHYN studios in 1999. For decades he had a widespread media presence, but along with professionalism he had a solid reputation as an all around nice guy. Unfortunately, I happened to be present at what had to be one of the worst days of his life.

What I remember most about Fred King is the morning he got fired from WHYN. I was in the studio to do The Reporter's Roundtable starring Kateri Walsh which aired early Sunday mornings but was actually recorded on Friday. Many times when Kateri and I arrived for taping King and his sidekick Bo Sullivan were just getting off the air, so we sometimes chatted with them.

Radio is a notoriously cutthroat business, where people are routinely fired out the door under the flimsiest of pretexts. It isn't even a case of "what have you done for us lately" but more like "what have you done for us this week?" No matter how long or how loyally you have served a station, you are always just one ratings slip or one hot young competitor away from being bounced from your job.

One morning Kateri and I arrived as the morning show was ending and we heard from Sullivan that Fred King had just received a mysterious notice to report to the office immediately after the show. When Kateri and I emerged from the studio after taping, we could see that there was Fred King, standing in the lobby with his arms filled with the contents of his desk, waiting for the elevator to come and take him out of the building as a now former employee. Even by radio standards, the firing of King shocked industry insiders up and down the Valley. When Kateri and I saw King departing the station he had served for decades for the final time, she turned to me and exclaimed, "That was fucking cold!" It was the first and last time I ever heard Kateri Walsh swear.

Meanwhile, there has been a lot of thunderstorms lately due to high humidity, the only blessing of which have been post-storm rainbows. Here's one last week over the Florence section of Northampton.

This afternoon I was in Amherst eating pizza outside Antonio's under threatening skies. Happily, I finished my pizza before the deluge began.

Finally, here is a video documenting the brave patriots who stood on the Calvin Coolidge bridge earlier this year to defend our freedoms.