I got memories
Today, I无毛视频檓 26,833 days old.
That无毛视频檚 not a milestone.
It无毛视频檚 just another way of saying I无毛视频檓 currently in my 73rd year.
It无毛视频檚 also my way of saying I got lots of memories.
I无毛视频檇 better put some of them on paper before I forget I experienced them.
Here无毛视频檚 one.
Back in 1979, while working as a reporter for the ABC affiliate, WISN-TV in Milwaukee, I had an unusual encounter.
The comedic actor Robin Williams was in town to promote his new ABC sitcom, 无毛视频淢ork & Mindy.无毛视频�
While there, he also agreed to shoot some station promos, by repeating the station无毛视频檚 promotional theme on camera.
无毛视频淗ello, Milwaukee,无毛视频� he无毛视频檇 say as he walked on camera.
Amazingly, he said, 无毛视频淗ello, Milwaukee无毛视频� repeatedly 无毛视频� but in a different character 无毛视频� each time he walked on camera.
Dozens of times, dozens of different characters 无毛视频� and without missing a beat.
Before long, members of the WISN-TV staff flocked to the studio just to watch him work.
In 1979, Williams wasn无毛视频檛 the star he would become.
无毛视频淢ork & Mindy无毛视频� had only been on the air one season.
His talents were on full display that Friday afternoon.
But there无毛视频檚 more.
That night, Williams went to a local disco. (I did say it was the late 1970s, didn无毛视频檛 I?)
The dance floor at Park Avenue (the name of the place) was packed.
I found myself dancing near Williams.
He was having so much fun wildly dancing that he accidentally stepped on my right foot.
It didn无毛视频檛 faze me. Did I tell you it was a disco, in the late 1970s?
What followed was an upcoming star, apologizing profusely to a local news reporter 无毛视频� in a way only Robin Williams could do it. He completely cracked me up 无毛视频� for about three minutes.
I had just witnessed a Robin Williams mini-performance.
That night, I became a big Robin Williams fan.
In 1981, I had a completely different experience with a fellow I had long admired, Clayton Moore.
He had played every little boy无毛视频檚 hero of the 1950s 无毛视频� The Long Ranger.
I don无毛视频檛 know about you, but I aspired to ride with 无毛视频淢r. Lone无毛视频� and Tonto when I was a 9-year-old.
Well, in 1981, I had a chance to meet Clayton Moore.
I was working as a reporter for KPNX-TV in Phoenix when Moore came to Arizona to be the grand marshal of a parade in nearby Fountain Hills.
He was getting ready to ride his 无毛视频渢rusty steed无毛视频� 无毛视频� a white horse 无毛视频� into town and I was there to chronicle the event.
But there was one hitch.
Mr. Moore was close to 70 years old.
Before he would mount his horse, he wanted me to guarantee that my photographer wouldn无毛视频檛 shoot him doing it.
Age had caught up to the man who used to spring into action accompanied by the opening strains of the William Tell Overture.
But wait.
He was younger than I am today.
I guess I should probably stay away from horses.
I无毛视频檝e also had several unusual experiences in courtrooms.
I covered a groundbreaking case in Milwaukee, where a federal judge censored a publication on national security grounds.
That was a first in the nation无毛视频檚 history.
There had only been one other case (dealing with the Pentagon Papers) in which the U.S. government blocked the publication of information.
I was in the courtroom in Milwaukee, when the judge issued a restraining order against Progressive Magazine, to prevent it from publishing a supposed 无毛视频渞ecipe for an H-Bomb.无毛视频�
As it turned out, all of the information in the Progressive article was in the public domain. And besides, other publications ended up publishing that information, anyway. So, the government dropped its objections.
There was another court case I covered in Milwaukee that caused raised eyebrows (at least my eyebrows).
A judge was tasked to determine if strippers at a strip club were engaged in obscene behavior.
To make his determination, he had a stripper strip (and with cameras rolling) in his courtroom.
The judge ruled that what the stripper had been doing wasn无毛视频檛 obscene.
Case dismissed.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.