IRVING WAUGH

By Dan Miller
April 27, 2007

Just days ago, I stood -- then sat -- at the bedside of this distinguished and always delightful man.
It was surprising to me to see Irving Waugh confined to a hospital bed.

Surprising because Irving was usually standing or walking.... creating a magnetic presence in whatever room he occupied.

I thought about the last time Irving and I had lunch, and how the young woman serving us -- probably in her 20s -- seemed so utterly charmed by the humor and powerful personality of this man in his 90s.

Surprising because, here was a man who -- in his 80s -- had traveled around the world in 11 days.... and had gone off-road biking in Canada.

Here was a man who still did fingertip pushups until he was 91.
In recent years, if I drove through Belle Meade, I would occasionally spot Irving riding his bicycle, or walking the streets.

And though the death of Jean -- his beloved wife of 70 years -- had taken an obvious emotional toll during his final year, his strength and stamina seemed inexhaustible.

But just days ago, in that hospice room -- with his eyesight betraying him -- Irving's once booming voice strained to be heard.
There was still laughter, coming mostly as a slight movement in his chest, and a hint of a sound.
And his mind was still inquisitive and clever.

As I sat with him, I talked about the first time I met him, 38 years ago.
At that time, he was president and general manager of the WSM radio and television empire.
It was a warm Saturday afternoon in April 1969, and I had just flown to Nashville from South Carolina.... my first time ever on a commercial flight.
I was escorted into his corner office at the WSM studios on Knob Road.

After a short wait, he walked into the room, looking for all the world like a movie star.... a striking man in his 50s.... dressed in a perfectly fitting yellow golf shirt.... with a giant, modified pompadour of mostly golden hair.... perfect posture.... and a booming voice.

Only much later did I learn that, with only a slight twist of fate, he might have actually been a movie star.
He was an actor early in his career, and had even "read" for the role of Ashley Wilkes when they were casting the movie "Gone With The Wind."
The role ended up going to Leslie Howard, but -- to this day -- I'm not convinced they made the right choice.

"Hello lad, thank you for coming" were the first words he ever said to me.

Over the next 38 years "lad" was mostly what he called me.
But, then again, that's how he addressed most men younger than himself.
It was one of his nice little quirks.
So was his distinctive way of answering the phone.
While most of us say "hello".... Irving would pick up the phone and say, "alright".
If you didn't hear that word, you'd know you had the wrong number.

He watched everything on Channel 4 closely over the years.... even after he had retired from the station.
And he had a little two word mantra to try and inspire us to do better work.
He'd say, "Surprise me!"
Irving didn't like anything on TV to get stale or predictable.... he liked surprises.
He never relied on consultants or researchers to tell him what to do.
He always seemed to know the way things should be, and the rest of us -- consultants included -- would simply have to catch up.
When changes were needed, Irving would make strong, insightful suggestions.... then he'd say "now, surprise me"... and he'd wait to see what happened.

Irving was a visionary, whose career was rich, inspiring, and full of surprises.

He joined WSM radio in 1941, and was the first journalist during World War II to broadcast from Japan as American forces occupied the country.
He led WSM-TV through its early years in the 1950s....
He was almost single handedly responsible for putting the CMA Awards Show on national television....
He's the one who proposed the new Grand Ole Opry House....
He conceptualized and convinced National Life to build Opryland theme park and hotel.
He's responsible for the Friday night Opry, and originated "FanFair" -- now called the CMA Music Festival.

He discovered Huell Howser, John Tesh, Carol Marin, Floyd Kephart, Lamar Alexander and countless other uniquely talented people, and convinced them to come be a part of the Channel 4 family.
When Lamar was elected governor, he recruited Irving to serve as Tennessee's Commissioner of Tourism, which he did -- reluctantly -- for several years.
Irving was not even slightly fond of the political arena.

So last week, here we were again.... in 2007.... another warm April afternoon.
I walked to his bed and asked if he was OK.... was he anxious to leave the hospital?
He said, "I'll be leaving."
After a pause for breath, he added, "I'm ready to go."
I asked him, "So you're OK flying out of here this time?"
"It'll be interesting" he said.

It'll be interesting.
That was so typical of Irving.
Probably hoping God would surprise him with something unique and wonderful!

I was beginning to worry that I might be staying too long in his hospital room, so I said, "Irving, I hope to see you again, but if I don't, thanks for everything".... and I put my hand on his shoulder.

He whispered, "Thank you lad, thanks for coming."

It struck me.... those would be both the first and last words Irving would say to me.

I'm glad we got to visit.
I hope I sorta surprised him.
For me, the big surprise is that Irving died so young.... at 94.

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Comments

[Sam Hale]

What a fabulous story told so magnificently! I grew up in McMinnville in the 40s-50s and "studied" the great announcers on WSM radio; then, television, as I early-on learned that I wanted to be an "announcer"

By the time I was ready to begin a career, radio had changed dramatically and there were very few live shows; none being fed to NBC from "Studio C" at WSM, so I had to become just a "disc jockey" -- a term I've never liked.

Nonetheless, looking back, it was the most enjoyable period of my working life.

Mr. Waugh's close friend and associate, Jack Stapp, who had been recruited to WSM from CBS in New York to become Program Director and manager of the Grand 'Old Opry; and producer/director for the live shows fed to NBC, had become involved in music publishing. That "side" endavor had grown to the point where he was given the ultimatum to divest himself of the music publishing, or leave.

He chose to leave and became President of little WKDA on top of First American National Bank.

Upon returning from Armed Forces Radio and TV service, I sent a tape to Mr. Stapp and he immediately hired me.

A few months later, having done the first newscast on an AFRTS broadcast television station, I thought I was ready for Channel 4. I mentioned it to Mr. Stapp and he phoned Mr. Waugh and made arrangements for my going up on the hill to audition.

I did my "thing" and Jud Collins, another whose name escapes me, and Mr. Waugh came from the control room into the studio.

From that booming, wall-shattering bass voice of Mr. Waugh, I heard ...
"Sammy, you have the style we like but you're too young and you have too
God damn much hair."

Jud Collins interceded, his air is not as long as Boyce Hawkins' (the weather man). Mr. Waugh bellowed, "I've been meaning to ask you to tell Boyce to get a GD haircut!"

So your word pictures brought back vivid memories of that Autumn afternoon in 1959.

Better still, I was able to learn more of the "real" man from your writing and
I sincerely appreciate it and it made me even more sorry that I was not acceptable at that time for a position at Channel 4, 'though we did great at WKDA -- and beyond.

Most sincere thanks, Dan.