Tripod: Messages from the Staff

<body bgcolor="#CCFFFF" link="#FF0000" vlink="#990000" text="#000000" background="../../../tripod/letters/img/www_subdomain/bg.gif"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="TOP" align="CENTER" width="178">  <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="170"> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/logo-map.html"><img src="../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/logo.gif" alt="Tripod Map" border="0" height="58" width="170" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/universal2-map.html"><img src="../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/universal2.gif" alt="Member Services Map" width="170" height="59" border="0" ismap></a></td> </tr><tr><td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="170" bgcolor="#999966"> <img src="../../../img/www_subdomain/tripod_zones.gif" alt="tripod zones" width="81" height="17" border="0"></td> </tr><tr> <form 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src="../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/pods.gif" alt="Pod Map" width="170" height="18" border="0" align="top" ismap></a></td> </form> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="170">  <tr><td></td></tr> <tr><td align="CENTER"> <center> <a href="#"></a> </center> </td></tr> <tr><td align="CENTER"> <center> <a href="#"></a> </center> </td></tr> </table> <center><form name="FreeShop"> <table border="0" width="120" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr valign="TOP"> <td align="center" valign="TOP" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="120"> <a href="/"> <img src="../../../freeshop/120x60/ads_subdomain/fs120101.gif" alt="FreeShop - Over 100 Free and Trial Offers!" width="120" height="38" border="0"></a></td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td align="center" valign="TOP" nowrap bgcolor="#ffffff" width="120"> <select name="FreeShop" onchange="self.parent.location.href = "http://www.tripod.com/bin/accipiter/tripod_adclick?CID=000023270000033200000000&overrideURL=" +this.options[this.selectedIndex].value;"> <option value="">FreeShop <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00013.htm">Computing <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00013.htm">-& Electronics <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00019.htm">Entertainment <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00022.htm">Travel <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00014.htm">Software <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00015.htm">Style & Image <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00016.htm">Personal <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00016.htm">-Finance <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00017.htm">Business <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00017.htm">-& Career <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00018.htm">Lifestyles <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00018.htm">-& Interest <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00020.htm">Hobbies <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00021.htm">Family <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00023.htm">Auto <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00024.htm">Home & Living <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00025.htm">Health, Fitness <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00025.htm">-& Sports <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00029.htm">Completely <option value="http://tr2.freeshop.com/pg00029.htm">-FREE Offers </select></td> </tr> </table> </form> </center> </td> <td valign="TOP" width="100%">   <p> <p> <img src="../../../tripod/letters/img/www_subdomain/letter.top.gif" alt="from tripod..with love.." width="401" height="124" border="0"> <br> <center> </center> <br> <br> <p> <blockquote> <b>From Dick Wilde, Production Manager:</b> <p> Last month an old colleague of mine called from Tokyo to tell me my former boss at ABC News had died. <p> My former boss helped advance my career at ABC News in Washington, where he effectively brought me up from my entry-level Production Assistant position to Segment Producer for the ABC News "Koppel Report" documentary series, all in a matter of a couple years. This was crucial to my career growth, especially as my life at ABC News had gotten off to a really ugly start  I was 22, just out of college, and by the end of the first hour of my first day on the job at ABC, alpha-correspondent Sam Donaldson had already publicly humiliated me in front of the entire Washington newsroom (at issue was a cup of take-out coffee, but that's another story altogether). <p> My former boss was Lionel Chapman, Senior Producer for Nightline and Executive Producer for the "Koppel Report" documentary series. He was 47 years old, and he died of a fatal heart attack in New York City in October. It was his second heart attack; his first was at age 32. Lionel was among the most successful and best-known African-American network news producers in an industry which historically has promoted few minorities to senior positions. Lionel was an intense and gifted television producer, with unmatched visual and editing skills which are today almost legendary. He was also obsessive and passionate about his work. <p> <p>He worked very, very hard with unfailing loyalty to Nightline and his direct boss, Ted Koppel. While we all worked very long hours getting our documentaries to air, Lionel worked harder and longer than anyone I had ever known. Deservingly, he won many Emmy Awards, Peabody Awards, Neimanns and the like. He worked nonstop. Late nights, weekends, Christmas. And when he worked, we worked  because he often refused to let his employees go home, no matter how many overnight edit sessions or 100 hour weeks we pulled. He managed his team poorly, in my view, but in the process demonstrated to us how <b>not</b> to treat others. In his life, he had found no balance. It cost him tremendously. <p> Lionel's funeral was held in Manhattan last month. It was a big affair; everyone from ABC News was there. Koppel delivered one of the eulogies. I sat in the back of the mortuary and thought about Lionel. I concluded that no one has ever taught me more, for better or worse, than Lionel did. <p> If you want to see for yourself, come visit us at <a href="../../../www_subdomain/index.html">Tripod</a>. We are really well balanced. <p> <br> <ul> <br> <a href="/">Dick Wilde</a>, Production Manager (11/7/97) </ul> <p> <center> <hr width="330"> <p> Read more "Letters from Tripod" in the <a href="../../../www_subdomain/tripod/letters/archive.html">archive</a>. <p> <hr width="330"> </center> <br> </blockquote> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body>