Good Bye Hal

News is more than paper and print, picture and sound. It is relationship and people. We lost an old friend today with the death of Hal Fishman. He was a presence in Los Angeles and on Channel 5. He held the national record for longevity with one station.

Known for his personal commentaries, he may have invented the video blog. His comments were usually short, very personal and without a trace of corporate spin. I might agree or disagree, be amused or quizzical, but I always felt I was getting something real from someone real.

With a background in teaching and a casual delivery style, he was good and easy company over the years. He talked about politics and diamond lanes, his passion for flying and demonstrated humor as well as gravitas.

His death come quickly, a week after collapsing at home and the finding of metadstatic cancer. While I would have liked to have had him around far longer, Dr. AndrewWeil says that the object of life is to live long and contract the dying period as much as possible. It is shocking to say good bye so quickly but there is a certain consolation that he worked up to his final week. Good job.

Rather than the usual passive voice “He will be missed,” let me say personally, “I will miss Hal.” He is the reason I always included Channel 5 at 10 pm in my TV news line up.