Of course I had heard of Ted Turner, Captain Courageous, the Mouth of the South, rogue entrepreneur and all-around rowdy, but I never thought I’d work for him, and eventually appreciate him as the best boss I ever had.

That changed rather abruptly on November 30, 1981 when I reported to work as one of the ten original producers at what was then called CNN2 and morphed in HLN. It’s a  job I got as a tip, applied, flew to Atlanta and back on one day from Tucson, Arizona and got hired the next day.

That network, itself, was evidence of Ted’s, um, personality. He had hear that ABC/Westinghouse was going to challenge CNN with a fast-paced headline-type channel. That was in July of 1981.

The hell with that, he said. Turner declared CNN would have its own such channel, beat the challenger on the air, then vanquish it. Chutzpa, no?

In the course of four months executives Turner reassigned from CNN were tasked with creating the new network, hiring a staff, training us and signing on the air January 1, 1982.

Not only did we accomplish that, by the time the other guys finally got on the air months later, its rating tanked, Turner bought it, then put the thing out of its misery.  

Oh sure, he was quirky and a little crazy. Went through wives and girlfriends. Sometimes on a Saturday morning he’d come down to the newsroom/studio at CNN’s original location from his office in a blue terrycloth robe, his hair a mess after a rough night, looking for coffee.

Working at CNN was intense but rewarding and we knew we were part of something no one had the nerve, guts, foresight or money to attempt.  

When I later became Detroit Bureau chief and correspondent, I would return to Atlanta every year for the annual bureau chief’s meeting which always included an hour with Ted in his conference room.

He always told us, “you all made my dream come true and that’s why I’m loyal to you. Unless you come in drunk or on drugs and do your job, you’ve got a place here.”

There I am in the first row at the tender age of 37, looking about 17, with the other bureau chiefs and some executives in Ted’s office in 1989.

Ted’s had an inclusive view of the world. That’s why he created the unique daily “World Report,” which, for the first time anywhere, included news reports from networks around the world, not just CNN journalists, providing a unique and fascinating perspective.

Indeed, we were never to use the word “foreign” in any reporting because as Ted explained, “if we’re reporting a story on something that took place in Europe and someone from Europe is watching, that’s not foreign news.” 

There was actually some sort of fine involved for infractions, but I’m not aware of anyone ever having to pay up.

Someone did joke once, “if someone is choking should we not say their windpipe is blocked by foreign matter?” Newsroom humor. The best.

He created the Detroit Bureau in 1983 and located it two blocks from the original General Motors headquarters on West Grand Boulevard.

Ted said he wanted a bureau to cover the biggest, most important industry in the world and be near the biggest of all the automakers.

I was the second and last Detroit Bureau chief, following the dynamic Bob Vito.

“Good luck Detroit” is how he inscribed this autographed poster that hung in the bureau until I took it with me when I left the company.

Oh, that. As time went on, Ted gradually lost control of the company when cash became an issue following a combination of major expenditures and less than astute business gambles requiring the company to take on partners, eventually being bought out by Time Warner.

When Time Warner and AOL decided to merge the company was ordered to slash costs, in large part by chopping the payroll by around 1,000 of us.

My immediate boss called me at the Detroit Auto Show to say our bureau wouldn’t be touched, but three days later it was. I was laid off, leaving the bureau with a producer, shooter and no reporter.

When the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred, the two remaining members of the bureau was pressed into action, worked to the bone, then laid off and the bureau closed.

I firmly believe if Ted still ran the company none of that would have occurred and I would have retired from CNN, rather than Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2016.

I also believe if Ted still ran the shop CNN would still be the down the middle news organization it always was when I worked there, presenting factual, objective reporting.

You see, never once, in my 20 years there did Ted ever mandate a point of view, except that we make sure our reporting was accurate and representative of a global news organization.

That was borne out during the 1988 Democratic Convention which was held in the old Omni next door to CNN Center in Atlanta. I was a supervising producer at the time, which is like a shift supervisor and I’d often take calls from viewers.

During our coverage an equal number of Republicans would complain to me that CNN was favoring Democrats and vice versa.

It was a lifetime honor and privilege to work for the miracle that Ted Turner created and I can honestly say, any good thing that’s happened in my career and life came as a result of that experience.

So I will say thank you and godspeed to Ted Turner, may he rest in peace in that blue robe, and wherever he is, find that cup of coffee.