Bob Sevey, Hawaii's most trusted news anchor for two decades until his retirement in the mid-80s, died today following a long battle with cancer. He was living with his wife Rosalie in a retirement community in Lacey, Washington.
In memory of the former KGMB anchor, PBS Hawaii will re-broadcast his last substantive television appearance. In 2007, he talked with me at his home about his health, the declining quality of news coverage, and why he left Hawaii. Join us for the extended conversation in two back-to-back encore episodes of Long Story Short on at 7 pm Sunday (Feb. 22, 2009). A written transcript of the conversation is available at www.pbshawaii.org -- click on the Long Story Short page.
Sevey, fondly nicknamed "Cap" by his newsroom staff for his command of the newsroom ship, faced cancer matter-of-factly. When asked how he was feeling, he was factual--and brief. Last year, when he returned to Hawaii to attend a reunion of his former staff, he arrived at the party walking with the aid of a cane and accompanied by a dear friend who's a registered nurse. He said he was no longer having cancer treatment. No point, he explained evenly. He had a good time at the party, trading stories and chuckling. There were a lot of people who cared about him and were eager to connect with him. He tired and left early, after a warm and gracious good-bye.
Until a few weeks ago, he and I continued to exchange emails. Usually he'd respond to my inquiries about how he was feeling by saying that the cancer didn't cause him all that much trouble. But he had an unrelated knee problem--and he absolutely hated being dependent on a walker.
He didn't want sympathy. What he wanted was to keep up with what was happening, just like always. The Cap always checked online for news of Hawaii. He was also interested in the news behind the news. What was the internal fall-out of a particular development? And he asked with concern about experienced journalists who were quietly being laid off at Honolulu newspapers.
He was a newsman to the end.
His widow Rosalie has advanced Alzheimer's Disease and Bob long ago made plans for her to be well taken care of. Bob is also survived by his sons Michael and David, two grandchidren, and sister Sandy, who was a great companion during his illness.
In his personal life, Bob loved gadgets of many kinds. But in his newsroom, he was unimpressed with gimmicks, bells and whistles--the technology that distracted rather than illuminated. He disliked consultants' formulas for newscasts, including high story counts that kept each news item short and...uninformative. He knew the power of words and insisted on careful word choices. And he was adamant that news footage be reviewed for taste. No close-ups of gore, no salaciousness.
Thank you, Cap, for insisting on straightforward, high-quality news.
Leslie,
Thank you for doing the Long Story Short episodes with Bob Sevey. I grew up watching Bob on KGMB news, so it was nice to see and hear him speak again after all these years. Watching Bob on the newscasts was like listening to stories told by a beloved uncle. I'm at a loss for words right now, but this I can say: Bob was the best.
Mahalo,
Charles Nakashima
Posted by: Charles Nakashima | February 20, 2009 at 08:09 PM
What a wonderful and heartfelt tribute to a man we all loved and will miss terribly.
We cannot watch your "Long Story Short" but did read the transcripts - truly a wonderful piece.
So glad to see everyone last year and even more so now.
Take care!
Jana & Ken
Posted by: Jana | February 22, 2009 at 05:57 AM