Today’s news brings a sad report of the death of George Putnam, a long time newscaster here in Los Angeles. Those of us growing up in Southern California knew George well, from his regular stints on KTTV-11, KTLA-5, and KHJ-9 (none of this KCAL stuff). He was a long time conservative radio host (although a Democrat) on KIEV 870, and was a regular on his horse in the Rose Parade.
For those outside of Southern California: think Ted Baxter. The Mary Tyler Moore character was supposedly modeled after Putnam, with both the look and the style of delivery (although Baxter also had elements of Jerry Dunphy, another local staple). He was lately on CRN Digital Talk Radio, where he hosted “Talk Back”. You can here a demo from the show here.
Edited to Add: Here’s the tribute show that was broadcast today. No, I haven’t listed to it.
We’ve lost all the quality local newscasters (and no, I don’t consider Paul Moyers quality — he was and always will be a Tom Snyder clone). Jerry Dunphy, Bill Stout, Hal Fishman, Ralph Storey — all gone.
Good bye, George. Although I may not have agreed with you, you always gave the news honestly.
