I worked Dave's very first television show at WXYZ-TV in Detroit in the early '60's. I was the cue card holder for the Dave and Lee McNew who did the news. I can still remember that first night... Dave was extremely nervous. We were in the break between news and sports and the director asked, "Dave, are you ready to go?". He answered with some funny comment. Then, over the loud speaker, the director said, "Dave, what about your gum?". Dave answered, "What about it?". "Are you going on the air chewing gum?", asked the director. With that, Dave took the gum out of his mouth and put it behind his right ear. And that's the way he did his first sportscast. And every night after that, if he was chewing gum, he would put it behind his ear a few seconds before going on the air.
I used to check in with Dave every night about 45-minutes before the show. He would hand me a sheet of paper on which he had typed the information to go on the cue cards. There was no such thing as a teleprompter in those days. I would write out the cue cards and then hold them next to the camera when he went on the air. He was a wiz-bang on the typewriter... there were no computers in those days either.
Dave enjoyed a good argument, loved to tease and give people a hard time, usually in a joking way. He and Jack Powers, who did radio news and called himself "The Pulse of Detroit", did not get along. Every night after finishing his shift, Jack would have to walk by Dave's office to leave the building. Dave's office, once a storage room, was very small. The door was always open. Every night, the words would fly, each trying to outdo the other in the art of the "putdown". After Jack would pass, Dave would mutter a few words and then we'd get back to working on the show.
Dave's passing brings back many memories... all of them good. I certainly enjoyed knowing and working with him.
Keith Balon
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