Al Hart :: Press

PROBABLY NO ONE in Bay Area broadcasting is as respected -- or well-liked -- as Al Hart.

Longtimers remember him as the guy who started their day off right as KCBS's affable morning anchor from 1967 until 2000, when he retired to take care of his wife, Sally, who was dying from Lou Gehrig's disease.

Now, a new generation knows him as the guy who shoots the breeze with John Madden every Wednesday morning.

Many people have wondered: Could anyone possibly be as nice in real life as he comes across on the radio? Well, speaking as someone who has known him for more than 25 years, I can tell you the answer is no.

In real life, he's even nicer.

"He's the gold standard in our profession," says Tom Newton, assignment editor at Channel 4. "All our star reporters, guys like Vic Lee and Don Knapp, are big Al Hart fans. And it's not just here; people feel this way about him in newsrooms all over town. He's the guy we all want to be."

Kitty Rea, who was one of KCBS's first female engineers back in the 1970s, remembers most men at the station treating her like a second-class citizen, assuming she'd gotten the job only because she was a woman. But not Al.

"He never acted that way towards me or any of the other women," she says. "He was a gentleman and a joy to work with at all times, which knocked me out.

"Here was this broadcasting legend treating me not as a lowly little girl tech who was supposed to make him look good, but as an equal. And this was way before it was fashionable or required to treat women like that in the workplace."

Now, some of his friends and fans have come up with a great way to honor this good man -- by endowing a broadcast journalism scholarship in his name.

And they've picked a great organization to administer the scholarship -- the Kennedy-King Foundation.

The foundation has no office and no paid staff. Everything is done by volunteers. Its sole purpose is to give scholarships to minority students.

The foundation was established in 1968 by the Walnut Creek Democratic Club, whose members wanted to create something positive out of the twin traumas of the Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy assassinations.

The first smart thing they did was bring Republicans into the effort, to make sure it was strictly nonpartisan.

The second smart thing was not to give scholarships to students at the high-end schools, such as Cal or Stanford.

"They already have plenty of scholarships," says board member Bob Fitzpatrick. "We give scholarships to students at local community colleges, instead."

In short, instead of giving money to the children of this generation's leaders, the foundation gives it to next generation's leaders.

Last year, 24 graduates from Diablo Valley College, Los Medanos College and Contra Costa College received Kennedy-King scholarships that are enabling them to go on and complete their education at a four-year school.

One of them, Ameer Thompson, is now studying molecular, cellular and integrative physiology at UCLA. Erick Valenzuela is studying special education at Chapman University. Jared Collins is studying biomedical engineering at Wisconsin. Lorrain Wilkins is studying math education at UC Davis. The list goes on and on.

Since 1968, more than 500 young people have received scholarships. The benefits society has reaped already from their contributions are nothing compared with the benefits yet to come. But it never would have happened without the Kennedy-King Foundation.

If you'd like to donate to this worthy effort, tax-deductible checks can be sent c/o Roger Haughton, PMI Group, 3003 Oak Road, Walnut Creek, CA 94597. And if you want your donation to go specifically to the Al Hart Scholarship, write his name on the memo line.

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Reach Martin Snapp at msnapp@cctimes.com.
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