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Harry Wappler, RIP
- Thread starter LITTLEBOYBLUE
- Start date
He's been ill the past couple of years. Stroke last night. Only 73, which is young these days. I've been along time fan and have been told by those who worked with him
he was a great person to be around. Never forget JP Patches cracking Harry up on the set. BTW, my wife, just today, not knowing the passing of Harry was asking what
happened to Andy Wappler. I told her he's the spokesman for Puget Sound Energy, is that correct? Our prayers go out to the family, Harry was a one of a kind!
he was a great person to be around. Never forget JP Patches cracking Harry up on the set. BTW, my wife, just today, not knowing the passing of Harry was asking what
happened to Andy Wappler. I told her he's the spokesman for Puget Sound Energy, is that correct? Our prayers go out to the family, Harry was a one of a kind!
Harry will surely be missed. I could be mistaken but is Andy with DOT in some office position?
Guy
Guy
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aludlum
Guest
God bless -- Harry was funny and talented and always a pleasure to work with. It's part of life but it is hard to see old friends go.
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searadiofreak
Guest
One of the true stars of Seattle TV news. Total pro, and a great on camera presence. Some forget he left KIRO in the 1970's for WNBC, but like KOMO'S Bruce King, eventually came running back to Seattle. Trivia question: who replaced Harry in 1972 when he went to New York City?
Sad news. Really missed him on KIRO after he retired. That last anchor line-up when he retired was their best (Raible, Hutchison, Ventrella & Wappler).
KIRO has posted a ton of videos and retrospectives on their website under the Harry Wappler tab. A nice one was done by former KIRO met Nick Walker on air at the Weather Channel about how Harry mentored him in his early days of forecasting. Helen Swenson is a VP at TWC now, which must be how he got permission to say something on air about harry.
Goes to show how stable this market is when for over twenty years the three big stations had the same chief meteorologists (Wappler, Pool and Renner). We were so lucky to have a great guy like Harry give us the weather for so many years.
KIRO has posted a ton of videos and retrospectives on their website under the Harry Wappler tab. A nice one was done by former KIRO met Nick Walker on air at the Weather Channel about how Harry mentored him in his early days of forecasting. Helen Swenson is a VP at TWC now, which must be how he got permission to say something on air about harry.
Goes to show how stable this market is when for over twenty years the three big stations had the same chief meteorologists (Wappler, Pool and Renner). We were so lucky to have a great guy like Harry give us the weather for so many years.
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searadiofreak
Guest
formeraa said:
Yes, formeraa! You and me seem to be on the same page on many Seattle tv news historical subjects!
Ron Barr was doing sports in '72, albeit as the #2 man behind the late Ron Forsell. For some reason, he was chosen to replace Harry when Wappler moved on to New York. I brought it up because it was one of those "big shoes to fill" situations, and guess Barr got the nod because he "fit the image" from a visual standpoint. The word was he was not happy with the promotion as that wasn't his training, but in those days it mattered less. When Harry returned in '75, Barr moved back to sports, only to be replaced by Wayne Cody a year or two later. Barr moved on to the SF market, but only lasted a few years. Last I heard he was doing syndicated radio with moderate success.
Harry Wappler, though, maintained a strong presence through the 1990's, and his "Hey, Harry" campaign solidified his stardom well into the turn of the century.
KIRO's tribute on their website, in addition to a special to air this Sunday evening is quite classy. Thanks, KIRO.
OK...the old guy's cranky again!!
But I'm questioning the decision to have Angela Russell co-anchor the Harry obit special on KIRO.
ONLY because I can imagine someone having to spend about 10 minutes explaining to her who "Harry" is.
They COULD have had Raible fly solo and it would be more comfortable ... or even bring-back Hutch to co-anchor it!
But I'm questioning the decision to have Angela Russell co-anchor the Harry obit special on KIRO.
ONLY because I can imagine someone having to spend about 10 minutes explaining to her who "Harry" is.
They COULD have had Raible fly solo and it would be more comfortable ... or even bring-back Hutch to co-anchor it!
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searadiofreak
Guest
I totally get that LBB, but I will defend KIRO in this instance only because the name of the game today is "branding", and while it is somewhat crass to involve a current anchor in a tribute like this, it is understandable in today's competitive environment. That being said, Russell probably has no clue as to the importance of Wappler, nor does she care. But she is being a good soldier, and as a primary anchor today, important to bridge the gap between the past and the present. Bringing back Hutchison would just open up old wounds. They could have brought back Sandy Hill, I suppose too, but that would probably be mostly irrelevant to most viewers, except for us geezers. (Note I didn't say "old" geezers, as I don't think either of us are there quite yet 
)
)I have to agree that you have to go with your current primary anchors. Russell probably learned alot about Wappler and the Seattle market while preparing and anchoring the special. I was only disappointed because I was in Seattle this weekend but my plane left at 6:30pm on Sunday night! Hopefully, they will post the special (or excerpts from it) on kiro.com.searadiofreak said:I totally get that LBB, but I will defend KIRO in this instance only because the name of the game today is "branding", and while it is somewhat crass to involve a current anchor in a tribute like this, it is understandable in today's competitive environment. That being said, Russell probably has no clue as to the importance of Wappler, nor does she care. But she is being a good soldier, and as a primary anchor today, important to bridge the gap between the past and the present. Bringing back Hutchison would just open up old wounds. They could have brought back Sandy Hill, I suppose too, but that would probably be mostly irrelevant to most viewers, except for us geezers. (Note I didn't say "old" geezers, as I don't think either of us are there quite yet
As for remembering Ron Barr taking over weather duties, it was a LONG time ago but, somehow, I just remembered that funny commercial (it was somewhere inside the head of a young child). Interestingly enough, when Harry came back, KIRO started the long process of upgrading its newscasts by hiring Wayne Cody for television, switching Gary Justice to news, and hiring John Marler and eventually Susan Hutchison. Along with KING's steadfast refusal to move to a more modern format, this led to KIRO's dominance in local news in the 80's.
Even saw a tribute on Northwest Cable news! (fade to black)
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searadiofreak
Guest
boiseengineer said:
There is a past connection with NWCN and KIRO. NWCN's & KING TV's owner Belo, owned KIRO TV in the 1990's before divesting it when Belo bought KING's former owner Providence Journal.
Well, a whole generation of us grew up watching Harry Wappler's forecast. I was heartened when KIRO hired his son Andy as a forecaster (Double Wappler), because I thought that it meant the continuation of the Wappler dynasty. Alas, Andy's reign ended early and KIRO decided to go with the young, blonde meteorologist (but so goes the tv news business).
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