Thank you KJRH for your coverage of Gary Shore's passing. Gary is an important part of your station's history, and for those of who lived in Tulsa in the late 70s/80s/90s, he is a part of the local culture.
I grew up in a "Channel 2 family" (meaning that's the only news station we watched) in the 70s and 80s, so Gary's weathercasts were a nightly fixture in my house. Of course in spring, a lot of afternoons and evenings turned into "The Gary Shore Show," because regular programming was regularly interrupted by Gary's tornado/severe weather alerts. His calm but insistent tone spurred my lifelong interest in weather, but more than that, it saved lives. The Mannford tornado of '84 comes immediately to mind, but there were many other times as well. During Gary's tenure, Channel 2 had all the best weather bells and whistles, and, importantly, Gary knew how to maximize their effectiveness on the air. Thanks to him, Tulsa viewers could look at, and even interpret, Doppler radar long before viewers in other parts of the country even knew that Doppler radar existed. I actually had problems when I became a broadcast meteorologist myself in South Carolina because I assumed that my audience knew the weather stuff that Tulsans knew. Gary had "trained" his viewers too well.
I had the opportunity to intern for Gary from 1989-91 while I was a student at Union High School. It was an intense experience, and between Gary's teaching and Tulsa's frequent weather events, I think I gained about half a lifetime's experience in those 3 years. I still remember spinning the knobs on that old radar (with Doppler!), cutting and sorting the old paper weather maps, and making sure Gary had a supply of colored grease pencils so he could mark them up for his daily weather analysis/forecasts. And I remember Gary's habit (as noted in Russell Mills' earlier post) of turning producers' hair gray by "vanishing" right before his scheduled spot in the newscast. I swear there were a couple of times when I thought the producer was going to sit me in the chair and make me take Gary's place. I always remember Gary making it in front of the camera with a couple of seconds to spare, unflustered and unfazed. I think he did he did it on purpose, to keep the producers (who were always trying to cut the time of his weather segment) on their toes, and to keep his delivery off the cuff.
I also remember Gary's devotion to his family. When he talked about his family he got a little glimmer in his eye and I could tell how important they were in his life. Ellen, Michael, and David, you have my deepest sympathies.
Brady Smith
St. Petersburg, FL