Dave was a great guy and great journalist. He truly cared about the viewers and making sure what he delivered on the news each night was fact-checked and correct. He was a true pro, and honestly, one of the nicest people you could ever meet.
During my nearly 10 years at 13, Dave always had the Astros game on at his desk, and he was meticulous about going through scripts. If he called you out on something -- it was definitely for a reason.
Fun story about Ward -- I was filling in and producing the 10pm one night -- Coog97 may remember this. I'd only been at the station for about a year -- so I hadn't worked with Dave a whole lot. The Rockets were on a lengthy winning streak, and we had a live crew at Toyota. The EP told me about 4 minutes before the newscast to throw in a live picture at the top of the show, so I put it in the rundown. It was supposed to be read by Dave.
Now, some back story here -- Dave wanted a hard copy of EVERYTHING. He wanted that paper when he was on the desk. He didn't like going unscripted or off bullet points from the prompter. He didn't trust it. So -- he wanted copy written and on paper for the 10-second live picture of Toyota.
With it being so close to air, and managing final checks for the newscast -- I got a couple sentences in the prompter, but Dave didn't get hard copy. He got to the live look right after headlines and stumbled a bit. When we got to the first reporter story, his mic was turned off. He then proceeded to read me the riot act from the studio. He said it looked like "hammered horse*****" He was mad -- because he didn't like going in unprepared and thought viewers deserved the best. I apologized to him -- explained I was just following management orders -- and we proceeded on with the show. I think Dave was fuming for the rest of the first block.
After the show, I went out into the studio to talk to him. Dave was totally cool. He had completely let it go, understood what happened, and was supportive -- because he knew we were all a team. That meant a lot to me as I was working to find my footing in a top 10 TV market. I asked him how everything was -- and he said, as he often did, "Good program!"
But that was Dave! Passionate, driven, great guy at heart. I always appreciated his commitment. I learned a lot from him on the finer points of how to be a journalist.
I had grown up watching him on TV, so it was a complete treat to be able to work with him on a regular basis. I did the 6:30pm show with him for more than a year and filled in on several other 10pms -- too many to count. I got to produce the specialty coverage of the last shuttle launch with Dave -- and that was a great experience too!
Rest in peace, Dave. You'll always be the man!
