During the 1970s and 1980s, I was a big fan of a local TV news anchor.

Unlike some anchors, he wasn't airbrushed or an airhead.

He wasn't classically handsome, he wore glasses and he often punctuated his news delivery with a bemused smirk.

Because of those quirks, I felt comfortable that Aaron Brown would never leave Seattle for a bigger market or the network news.

You were never quite certain what would happen during one of Brown's live newscasts.

At KIRO TV, he presented a routine story about local African-American pioneers and then threw it to Harry Wappler for the weather.

Faithfully following his news director's edict to engage in happy talk between segments, Harry, everybody's favorite uncle, blurted out, "Yeah, Aaron, I was the black sheep of my family."

Harry, the most uncontroversial guy to ever grace the local airwaves, looked to his anchor for a lifeline but all he got was that smirk. Brown wasn't a fan of happy talk. Harry used most of his weathercast to profusely apologize.

I was wrong when I figured Brown would never be called up to the big leagues.

Like much of the country, I turned on my TV that awful morning of Sept. 11, 2001 to see Brown reporting for CNN from a rooftop overlooking the World Trade Center twin towers.

Casting him as the next big TV news star, CNN had just hired him away from ABC and given him a primetime show.

But TV news is a fickle business, as I was telling my Southwest Suburban Sewer District beat reporter, Dan Rather, the other day. After a while, CNN decided it was really Anderson Cooper who was the next big thing.

A college dropout, Brown is now a professor at the Cronkite School of Broadcast Journalism at Arizona State University.

When Brown returned to Seattle on Oct. 4 to headline a fundraiser for the Municipal League of King County, I met my hero.

I also reunited with Lauri Hennessey, who is the Muni League's new executive director. Lauri's poignant columns on children have run frequently in the Times/News. And although there is no crying allowed in editing, she always coaxed at least a single teardrop from me as I proofed her writing.

She kept me in the loop during what we will call her "professional journey" through this Great Recession.

Coming out of college 20 years ago, Lauri embarked on an exciting career as a radio producer, press secretary to two national lawmakers and manager of government agencies. But when she and her husband started raising a family, she chose to set up a public relations business for nonprofits in their Vashon Island home and throw herself into her children's activities.

But the recent economic unpleasantness put the financial squeeze on her nonprofits and Lauri decided she needed a more steady income.

Through perseverance and talent, she emerged with the Municipal League position. The League is the regional nonpartisan, good government group that rates candidates and studies important issues.

The middle is not the most popular spot these days as most people have angrily picked sides.

Lauri admits, "These are tough times and it is easy to get discouraged. However, places like the Municipal League are more important than ever."

Lauri is a great fit for the job. The Muni League is lucky to have her.

But back to Brown.

He's now tanned (he lives in Arizona) and more polished but that famous smirk still occasionally pops up.

Brown told the audience that when he first got to Seattle, he hounded KING's news director for a job once a week for 3 1/2 years because KING was the place he wanted to be.

He finally wore the news director down and spent 10 years at Channel 5 as a reporter and anchor.

His move to KIRO was "a pure money grab," Brown noted.

After working for KING during its golden age of news coverage, Brown contrasted the differing approaches of the two stations.

"KING was in the NEWS business while KIRO was in the news BUSINESS," Brown observed.
(Of course, news at all the local stations has become frivolous and nowadays you're better off getting your 11 p.m. news from Comedy Central.)

But Brown said it was fortunate that he went to KIRO because if he had remained at KING he would finished his career in Seattle and missed reporting for ABC and CNN where he "did everything I ever imagined for my life."

He despairs over the current state of journalism-particularly cable news stations.

"Modern media is short on fact and long on opinion." Brown declared. "They call themselves news channels, but don't do journalism.

"Modern media makes us dumber and harsher. It makes consensus virtually impossible to find."
Brown is equally pessimistic about politics.

"This country is so much better than our politics and modern media," he noted.

Pressed to identify somebody he considers a great politician, Brown couldn't come up with a name.

His closing message to the good-government groupies at the Muni League applies to all of us who really care about our country:

"You've got to try harder."