Chuck is the Author of three novels:

Chuck Scarborough

You couldn't help loving this guy from the first time you sat down for a discussion with him. He wasn't a know-it-all kind of guy, but he did seem to know a  whole lot about many things.  Well read, he had a remarkable recall and would produce obscure details on a subject in a flash. I also took note that he had a knack for words.  He selected them carefully so that you always knew exactly what he meant. I had never met anyone, especially so young, who possessed such a remarkable vocabulary.

     The year was 1965 and earlier that  year I had left my WLOX radio announcer's job in Biloxi for a similar position at KALB in Alexandria, Louisiana.  After a few months, WLOX General Manager Ray Butterfield called, offering me the 10 o'clock news anchor slot at WLOX television.

     The day I assumed the job, Chuck Scarborough had also been hired and installed as the evening video director.  That meant he was the producer of my newscast, so we had a lot of contact with each other.

     Chuck soon expressed an interest in breaking into the talent end of the business.  WLOX TV was a young small market station on a delicate budget, so a two man newscast, like neighboring markets Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans were doing, was out of the question.  But Chuck and I came up with an idea:  I could come on with the national news, and during the break we would change places: He would then do the local news while I assumed the task of video switching.  Another exchange occurred for Sports, and a final swap for his weathercast.

     Ray Butterfield agreed to give it a try, and it was a hectic formula,  but it seemed to be working, and the Scarborough/Scarborough two man show boosted our spirits, bestowing upon us just a tad more professionalism, as though we had actually cross a threshold into "big time" broadcasting. It even allowed us to dismiss the fact that our pre-hurricane Camille equipment was so low-tech that today's average convenience store security cameras would have out classed us.

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     The first time Chuck hit the air he was nervous, stilted and for a few moments I wondered if perhaps we had jumped into the arrangement too prematurely. Night two, however,  found him more relaxed and fluent,   and by the end of the week he had magically morphed into a seasoned pro.  The end of his first month in front of the camera left no doubt in anybody's mind that this new kid on the block would one day own it.

     Soon,  Chuck was offered the six o'clock anchor slot, and our two-man gig came to an end.  Soon thereafter, the Program Director's position opened up at WLOX radio and I took it.  Chuck the assumed both anchor slots, and by the end of the year he had evolved into the positions of News Director and Manager of  News Operations.

     I like to joke, "Good thing that Program Director's slot became open when it did.  Chuck was so hot, I could never have kept pace."

    Even so, we remained solid friends, and his charm and manners made him one of the most genial people I have ever know.  My mother delighted in repeating the story about the party he attended at our home, where he proceeded to teach us all a game called: "Goose the Moose!" -- a kind of mature version of "Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey" that culminates with a blindfolded, unsuspecting participant stabbing a finger into an open peanut butter jar and then snatching off the blindfold to stare in dazed shock at the substance at the end of her finger. (Yes, my mother was the goat at that one, but her revenge was sweet over the years as she often replicated the stunt from a director's perspective.)

    Today, WLOX TV is a major market operation, and has launched many broadcast careers, including Good Morning America's Robin Roberts. 

     Chuck Scarborough, however, was the first to bring us an attitude and atmosphere of professionalism. Nobody told him we were a small market station, so he didn't seem to realize it.  He led us to believe we were as good as anybody and better than most -- and just had to work a little harder to prove it.

To see Chuck's biography:  Click Here