From Breaking News to Inner Peace: Emmy Award-Winning Journalist George Noleff

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What makes George's story so compelling isn't just his professional evolution but the profound personal transformations that accompanied it. After reaching nearly 400 pounds and receiving a stark health warning, he underwent gastric bypass surgery, losing 140 pounds and regaining control of his health. "I like living," he shares with disarming candor, "I hope I can do it for as long as I can."

The conversation delves into the healing power of nature, with George eloquently describing how water and forests provide sanctuary: "a chance to be at peace, a chance to collect my thoughts, in fact, a chance to not think at all, just to be." His reference to the Japanese practice of forest bathing reveals the science behind what he's always intuitively known—that just ten yards into the woods can immediately lower blood pressure and transform mental clarity.

Throughout his transitions from newsroom to riverbank, through health struggles and family challenges including his daughter's traumatic brain injury, George has maintained a philosophy borrowed from poet Rainer Maria Rilke: "Live the questions now, and perhaps you will gradually live along some distant day into the answer." His authentic approach to life, meeting people where they are without judgment, serves as a powerful reminder that sometimes the only way forward is simply to flow with the current.

Have you considered how embracing rather than fighting life's unexpected turns might transform your own journey? Listen to discover how one man's willingness to pivot created a life where passion and profession beautifully converge.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Real Talk with Tina and Anne.
I am Tina.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
And I am Anne George.
You and I we go way back, wayback Right, pretty much all the
way to our childhood in highschool.
You know you've always beensomeone that I've deeply
respected and cared about.
I just want to say for ourlisteners that you are probably

(00:34):
one of the ones that I had themost fun with in high school,
but that's not the reason thatyou're on the podcast.
You're a highly respectedjournalist with over 40 years of
experience in television andyour work has made a lasting
impact and fun fact, youactually know someone else on

(00:55):
the podcast from your mediaCleveland days.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Tina and I worked together at WEWS in Cleveland
the News Channel 5, back in themid-2010s and had a good time
there.
I was working as a producerthere and MMJ and I believe she
was working on the web teamthere, and we worked in the same
newsroom, talked a lot and hada lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, yeah, I'll tell you what lots of good memories
there.
But I'll tell you, radio andbehind the mic is more my thing,
not in front of you know.
Tv and that whole, just thatwhole thing.
So I'm much more comfortablelike this.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
I, you know I've been doing this a variety of
different roles over the past 40, whatever 1983 is, I can't do
math anymore, folks, sorry aboutthat Off and on, but in front
behind you know either producingshows.
These days I'm doing a lot moreon-camera stuff, comfortable
pretty much wherever you want toput me.
As long as I'm drawing apaycheck, I'm a happy boy.

(01:53):
But right now I'm drawing apaycheck essentially to go
fishing and hunting and hikingand eating some crazy food and
having a good time, so I can'tcomplain about that.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
That's amazing.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
You know, I just can't get over this Virginian
accent.
It just cracks me up.
You have just taken that on andyou own it.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, you know, I'm originally from Akron and my mom
like half of Akron is from WestVirginia, so I always had a
little bit of a twang.
My wife is from Virginia, soI'm around it all the time.
Even when I wasn't in VirginiaI moved down here and I think
the accent kind of adopted me asopposed to me adopting it.
It just became part of who I amand I'm real comfortable with

(02:34):
the folks here and I talk theway I talk.
I mean I'm sure if I moved toMinnesota I'd probably get real
tool be able to really quick tous.
So you know wherever I am.
That's the way I talk.
This is who you are.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
I just love this.
You know there's and there's somany parts to you, george.
There's so many layers.
Not only do you bring over fourdecades of experience in media,
but you've carved out thisunique path that you just kind
of touched on on the outdoors asa journalist out there in
nature, reporting from water,chasing the catch of the day,

(03:09):
you know, hunting and coveringeverything from Michigan to
Texas and wherever they send you, you know, and including
agriculture.
You've always had thispersonality to be in the
spotlight, from your spot-onJohn Belushi impression which,
by the way, is still the bestJohn Belushi impression that

(03:32):
I've ever seen to your work as ahighly respected and
professional journalist in thenewsroom.
So that's where I kind of wantto start this from you being in
the newsroom to now you're beingan outdoor journalist.
I mean, how in the world didthat happen?

Speaker 3 (03:47):
Well, let's backtrack all the way to how I got into
TV and journalism.
Yeah, it's because I waschasing a girl.
I was a political science andeconomics major in college.
I was planning on going to lawschool and then I was going to
go to Congress.
I was going to save the world.
I'm still working on the savethe world part.
Never made it to Congress,didn't go to law school.

(04:07):
While I was there, I starteddating a girl who was a
broadcast journalism major.
She was always at the campus TVor radio station.
I never got to see mygirlfriend, so I started hanging
out at the campus TV or radiostation, just so I could see my
girlfriend.
Next thing I know I'm doing itfor a living Just one of those
weird things where onedovetailed the other and it just

(04:29):
it worked out.
I was.
I went to school in DC, went toschool at American University,
swore I would never go back toAkron because you know, when
you're 21 years old, you knoweverything and you're, you know,
high and mighty and aboveeverything.
Right, I'm not going back toAkron.
First job I landed was rightback in Akron, at WAKR TV and
radio.
I'm doing radio, primarily,also working on Channel 23.

(04:53):
Spent three years there, endedup going from reporter to
producer and assignment editor,which gives you a whole
different idea of how newsoperates.
It doesn't just have to be TV.
And so I went from being on theair and worrying about one
story a day to producingnewscasts and worrying about 30
or 40 stories a day and multiplereporters.

(05:16):
And then left Akron for Toledo,ohio, worked for the ABC
affiliate up there.
I was there for almost fouryears and I went from being a
producer and assignment managerto being a news director and I
oversaw the whole newsdepartment.
I was the youngest newsdirector at a top 100 market
affiliated station in thecountry.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah, that was the experience.

(05:38):
I was way too young, probablyshouldn't have had that job, but
I had it, so I did it.
I left Toledo and went toBaltimore, maryland, as a
producer and worked my way up toa managing editor EP spot there
, ended up going to DC.
Worked in DC for about 10 yearsin a variety of roles for NBC

(05:58):
News, the NBC on there, wrc WUSA, which is the Gannett station,
a CBS station, and then finallyRetirement Living TV, which was
a startup cable operation, andthat was a lot of fun.
And then the recession hit andkind of hit me kind of hard.
I was freelancing technicallyfreelance Freelance is just

(06:21):
another word for I'm unemployedbut I'll work for you today and
I'll work for you tomorrow andI'll just, you know, um, I did
that for about a year and a half.
That was rough, and then I kindof need to recharge my batteries
, I need to get out of DC for awhile.
So I ended up inCharlottesville, virginia, and
I'm a wife for, for the sake oftransparency here, I've been
married three times.
I kind of look at my life ineras of wives, if that makes

(06:43):
sense.
This was my third wife.
I met her in Baltimore.
She's from Virginia.
She said why don't we move backto Virginia?
So I said okay.
So I ended up in Charlottesville, virginia, and left
Charlottesville after about twoor three years.
I ended up in Cleveland forabout four or five, ended up in
Toledo for another two as anexecutive producer and then said
I'm done with TV, I'm tired,I'm burned out.

(07:04):
You know it happens.
And I went to work for Cabela'sas a product specialist and
retail manager and did that forabout two years.
And along the way, I mean,things happen that cause you to
make decisions.
I was happy at Cabela's.
I'd still be there today ifcircumstances had been different

(07:25):
.
But my wife's father passedaway and she said, george, I
don't want to miss anymore withmy family.
My family had passed my brother.
He's still in Akron.
He goes back and forth betweenAkron and Houston.
But she said I really want toget back to Virginia, I want to
get closer to my mom.
I said, no, that makes sense.
So I started looking for jobsand one day I get a see an ad

(07:54):
online, for it was a managingeditor job is what it was at the
station where I am now and Iapplied.
About an hour later I get aphone call.
It's the news director fromthat station.
She says George, I don't wantto.
She goes.
I hate when people are nothonest with me.
That position was posted but itshould have been taken down
yesterday because we filled thatjob a couple of days back.
I don't really have anything foryou that you might be

(08:16):
interested in a management role?
I said, well, what do you haveopen?
She said I have producer jobsopen.
I said, okay, I'll beinterested.
So we went back and forth, weworked out a deal and that's how
I ended up back in Virginia.
Here I'm at WFXR Roanoke,virginia.
We're owned by Nextstar Media.
Nextstar has been one of thebest companies I've ever worked
for.
They've given me the latitudeto do a whole lot.

(08:38):
They take what I do and theyspread it out to a bunch of
their different stations.
Now how I got into this is evenfunnier.
I came down here as a producer.
The person who hired me,unfortunately, was let go very
shortly after I got here.
They brought an acting newsdirector in.
I walked in one day and hecalls me and he goes hey, I
understand, you have an outdoorsbackground and I did.

(08:58):
I'd done some outdoorsreporting.
I did some freelance work and,of course, I worked at Capellas.
I said, yeah.
He said we're thinking aboutstarting up an outdoors
franchise, you interested?
And I said, what would itentail?
He said, whatever you want tomake it.
I'm like, yeah, I'm in, allright.
And that took off.
It's become one of our morepopular segments.
My stuff gets picked up allover the country, In fact.

(09:22):
I have stations that actuallyrequest things in their markets.
Then they called me and saidwhat do you know about
agriculture?
I said not a darn thing.
They said, great, that's whatwe want.
We want somebody who's going toask the questions that the
average consumer is going to aska farmer.
So I do a segment called On theFarm.
I do Outdoors Bound, which isthe outdoor segment.

(09:42):
I do a segment called Bigsegment, called big old fish.
We just invite people, sendtheir big fish pictures and we
scream big old fish.
A lot.
I mean it's a lot of fun.
I'll send you a clip of that,you'll enjoy that.
Um, and then on the farm isconsumer agriculture.
I also do something called myvirginia, which is a virginia
heritage segment.
So it's all features.
I and I still do hard news.

(10:03):
A couple weeks I went out anddid a brush fire.
A few weeks back I went out anddid, unfortunately, a
heavy-duty crime story.
Keep my hands in the hard news,but I like doing features
because you know my stories.
With the exception of a fishhere or there, no one dies.
So you know.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
I'll tell you what.
You have been everywhere andyou, you.
It doesn't surprise me that youalways rise to the top in every
job that you've ever worked,and it always becomes excellent
work.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
You know, I'm pretty fortunate that I've been put in
the right situation, but I'vealso had mentors who have have
taken me on, I mean all the wayback to high school when I
needed.
I was a big screw off in highschool.
You knew me as a class clown,annie, yeah, and I was.
I mean, I may have been smart,but I was always just, you know,
messing around and we had ateacher.

(10:56):
I never had her for a class,mrs Jamerson, do you remember
her?
I don't.
Anyway, I was doing my usualstupid stuff in the hall one day
and she walked up I mean, youcouldn't get away with it as a
teacher these days, but she did.
She walked up and she grabbedme by the shirt collar and she
kind of turned me around and sheput her finger in my chest and
she knew exactly what she wasdoing.
I had no idea until later.

(11:20):
Puts her finger in my chest,she goes you think you're so
smart?
Everybody talks about how smartyou are.
Well, you know what.
You're just wasting it.
You're not so smart after all.
And I was like oh, I'm going toshow you who's smart.
And so that was about midwaythrough my junior year and it
lit a fire in me and I went frombeing kind of like a
just-get-by student to, you know, an A and B student.

(11:40):
I really pushed hard for thatand turned it around and that's
how I was able to.
I got into American kind ofprobationary.
They didn't, they liked my SATscore.
I had a couple, a couple ofteachers who wrote letters
essentially saying he maturedover the course of time and so
that explains his low GPA.
It wasn't anything to be proudof, but you know, they went to

(12:01):
bath for me and America says,okay, you got a semester to
prove yourself.
And here I am.
I was fortunate to, uh, you know, get into that school and do
what I was able to do, and thatset me up.
I had profs there, I hadfriends there and then, once I
got into the business, I hadpeople who looked out for me.
Um, but along the way I also,you know, I ran into a variety

(12:23):
of obstacles.
I mean, you know, health issuesand you know, like I said, I've
been divorced twice.
You know that ain't easy.
It's just a matter of kind of.
You know you got to have themindset that whatever comes down
the road is coming and youcan't stop it.
So you may as well try and makethe best of it, no matter what
that situation is.
Keenan.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
I just had a podcast about this Reverse psychology
works for George, okay, and yougot to make lemonade from lemons
.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
Right, right.
Have y'all ever heard of a poet, rainer Maria Rilke?
No, he shared his wisdom with abunch of different younger
poets, and there's a quote ofhis that I kind of have adopted
as my motto or mantra, orwhatever you want to call it.
I'm going to read it to youhere.
It says be patient toward allthat is unsolved in your heart

(13:12):
and try to love the questionsthemselves, like locked rooms
and like books that are nowwritten in a very foreign tongue
.
Do not now seek the answerswhich cannot be given you,
because you would not be able tolive them, and the point is to
live everything.
Live the questions now, andperhaps you will then, gradually
, without noticing it, livealong some distant day into the

(13:32):
answer.
And the first time I read thatI was like, yeah, that is it,
that's life right there, that'smy life and that's.
I just think that sums it up.
And so when things kind of geta little weird, or you know down
, or I don't know what's coming,it's like you know you're going
to just have to live into thatanswer.
That's the only solution.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I mean you just can't fight it.
It's going to happen, it'sgoing and you just have to go
with it.
It's going with the stream, Iguess, or going against it, the
only stream I guess, are goingagainst it.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
So the only way, the only way out is through, so to
speak.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Oh, we say that all the time on the podcast.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
You want to be a regular.
We just read that.
I read that to my youngest sonand his friend today two
four-year-olds going on a bearhunt.
You know you can't go over it,you can't go under it.
You just got to go through it,right, right, I guess.
Until you said that I didn'treally realize that maybe
there's a life lesson in thatbook.

Speaker 3 (14:28):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
Well, I know, ann, you've known George for a long
time and I know you wanted totalk about him growing up on the
lake.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
Well, yeah, I mean I was going to ask you because you
know you did that.
Your house was right on thelake, right.
You were really into theoutdoors from the very beginning
, always have, yeah, and I'venoticed how often life comes
full circle, I mean for Tina orfor me even.
I took my background incounseling.

(14:56):
I blended it with my journalismcareer and somehow that turned
into a mental health podcast andovercoming and navigating life.
And it was the same thing foryou, because you ended up taking
your love for nature and yourjournalism and they've kind of
collided.
I guess you could say they'vecome together and would you say

(15:19):
that your passion and yourprofession have become one in
the same.

Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, passion about journalism, even when it wasn't
about the outdoors.
But now that it is about theoutdoors, it's something I
embrace.
I love coming to work.
I this is going to sound crazy,but I think about fishing
probably every other second.
Now that I get to do it for aliving.
It's just a dream come true.

(15:48):
I mean, I couldn't ask foranything better.
And you're right, I grew upfishing.
I grew up on Rex Lake there inthe Portage Lakes outside of
Akron Ohio.
My father was a passionateoutdoorsman.
I got it from him.
We would fish in the yard.
You've been in my backyard,you've been in the backyard of
what was in my house.
My brother actually lives therenow, so you know it was right
there on the lake.
We could fish, we could swim,we could boat, we could go play

(16:10):
in the water.
You know there were muskrats,ducks, rabbits, geese.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
There were always something.
I know what it's like and Anndoes too, like you that being a
journalist, it can be hard attimes.
And you know, I guess I want toknow how do you balance the joy
of having these two, theprofession and your passion
combined, without losing thelove for the passion side of it?

Speaker 3 (16:35):
Well, that is an obstacle that arises from time
to time.
I mean it's fun when it's aproject.
It's not so much fun when itbecomes a responsibility.
I mean it's fun when it's aproject, it's not so much fun
when it becomes a responsibility.
You kind of have to separatethe two.
Case in point I did a story aweek ago on fly fishing on the
New River, which is a river downhere, smallmouth Bass, and it's

(16:55):
like I get the work out of theway so I got time to play Almost
compartmentalize.
You have to be able to do that,and there are also times when I
go on a fishing trip and I leavethe camera alone.
It's because you need to havethat separation, that balance,
and there are times when I go ona fishing trip just for myself.

(17:16):
The other thing, too, is I stepaway.
I like to read about what I do,I like to take a look at other
people's work, because it's morethan just about catching fish.
It's passion, joy in whatyou're actually doing, not just
what the subject matter is there.
The other thing is I tend to bea very competitive person and

(17:36):
creative at the same time, andso journalism you're always
trying to one up the other guy.
You're always trying to one upa competition, so you know it's
that's true.
Yeah, yeah, so it's kind of likeI like to win yeah, I know that
about you.
One of the things rememberrunning into the hall, annie,

(17:57):
and we'd race and you got, you'dget mad, though I used to run
laps.
I was a senior, she she was asophomore, she was getting ready
for track season.
We would run laps in thehallway during winter and about
once a week we'd race and shedoes not like to come in second.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
I let you win.
Oh, truth comes out.

Speaker 3 (18:18):
She was good, though she knew.
Yeah, she beat me a lot oftimes.
So, yeah, I couldn't you know.
But yeah, but if when I lost,when she lost, she didn't like
that at all, I never likedlosing.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
I never.
That was just a thing.
When I swam it was the samething.
I mean well, I let my kids win,but you know you have to do
that.

Speaker 1 (18:38):
Oh, you're nice, I don't do that.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Not even my four-year-old.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
I'm in it to win it.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
Sometimes, Now that they're a little older, I don't,
Because they, you know, youhave to learn how to lose too.
That's a good thing, you know.
But I love that you have givenyourself permission to be who
you are, no matter where you'reat.
I mean, you have pivoted manytimes in your life and I just
love the.
You know.

(19:04):
Maybe you could talk a littlebit about giving yourself
permission, on being with theflow, like we talked about a
little bit ago, and just sayingyou know what?
I'm just going to go with it.

Speaker 3 (19:11):
You have to be willing to accept that mindset.
Some people and this is noknock on them, they just have a
hard time with it Realize thatyou're a happier person when you
take some time for yourself,when you do some things.
That doesn't mean that youignore anybody else's needs or
the responsibilities in yourlife.
If you don't do those littlethings for yourself, no one else

(19:34):
is going to do that, and youfind some release.
You find you know you're morerelaxed and if you do those
things you're actually a betterperson to the other people in
your life.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
Oh yeah, I think you're talking about self-care
and I think you're talking abouthow, when you're in an airplane
and they'd say, you know ifthose masks come down you have.
Just watching animals is mything, it's my jam, it just
takes all the stress away, it'sjust my happy place.
I could live outside in a tent,not in our climate per se, but
like in Hawaii, maybe you know.
If there was a restroom, youknow, as long as I had a regular
restroom, that would be fine.
But I wanted to ask you, whatdoes being on the water offer

(20:31):
that no other place can for you?
Is it that refuge?

Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah, that's it Exactly Water, or even just
walking into the woods, a chanceto be at peace, a chance to
kind of collect my thoughts, infact, a chance to not think at
all, just to be, oh, I love that.
Yeah, you just are.
That's where you are.
There's a practice in Japancalled forest bathing.

(20:55):
Now it sounds like you're goingto the woods to take a bath,
but no, you're bathing yourselfin the forest and the research
has shown that just by taking a10-yard walk into the woods and
stopping has a positive impacton your mental health, on your
physical health, because yourblood pressure immediately drops
.
And then, once your bloodpressure drops, that has a

(21:20):
ripple effect.
But then you also become morerelaxed, you become more attuned
to those things around you,your focus becomes clearer and
all it takes is, you know, a fewminutes and you get this huge
health benefit.
Now, I didn't, you know, Ididn't know that when I first
started going into the woods oronto the water, um, all I knew
is I felt good, I felt better.
I you know, I may have beenhaving the worst week and I hit

(21:43):
the trail or I'd hit the waterand suddenly, after an hour-long
, two-hour, three-hour-long trip, none of that mattered.

Speaker 1 (21:50):
I felt better.
Water is cleansing, nature iscleansing.
Yes, it sure is.

Speaker 3 (21:55):
And when I felt better, then I was a better
person and I did better thingsand I did better at my job and I
was a better dad and a betterhusband and just a better
all-around person.
You know, at the benefits ofjust, and there again, though,
you have to give yourselfpermission to do that.
Getting back to what we weretalking about on the other
question, so yeah, you get outthere, it's solitude, it is a

(22:19):
refuge, and I would urgeeverybody just to take the time,
just, even if it means, ifyou've got a little wood place
in your backyard, walk out thereand just kind of hang out.
Or you got a park, you got somegreen space.
Go do it, see if there's not adifference.
I mean, you know what do yougot to lose.

Speaker 2 (22:34):
Well, I grew up in the trees, you know I would
climb the trees.
I loved being in my backyardand it really did make a
difference in how I felt.
And if I just go out and Iconnect with the trees for some
reason I've even written poetryabout trees and just being in
their presence and the silence.
There's nothing like that kindof a silence.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
Right, right, it's not really silence.
I mean, it can be dead quiet,but the sound of your head, the
sound inside your head, kind ofgets to.
It gets to come to theforefront.
You get to actually get to hearyourself a little bit.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Well, if you had your one perfect outdoor day.
Where are you, what are youdoing and who are you with All?

Speaker 3 (23:21):
right.
If I had that, that one day,when I was a kid, we would go up
to Quebec.
We'd go to a place in Quebec itwas a lake called Sand Lake,
and my father again, he was theone who instilled this passion
for the outdoors.
If I could, if I had that oneday, I would like to go fishing
there with him.
Just the memory of my fatherand the impact he had on my life

(23:46):
.
He was my teacher, he was mydad, he was my protector, he was
such, I mean, he's larger thanlife.
I mean you know, just you know,and you met my dad.
He was a nice guy, but therewas just, he was a good man and
he was a solid individual and hewas wise and the time spent

(24:09):
with him meant so much then.
And if I could have that oneday.
Oh man, I'm getting kind ofchoked up talking about stuff.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
I think that's so beautiful and sometimes you know
as much as it's sad to seepeople we love who've passed on,
and then to read about peoplewho've died.
I feel like one of the thingsthat's so beautiful is reading
what people write about them inthe obituaries.
I just find them, you know, youfeel like you really get to
know someone and man.

(24:37):
You can see how they're missedso much.
So I want to know, george, yourmost outrageous or unexpected
experience while on assignment,on assignment of any kind.
It doesn't just have to be withthe outdoor journalism, any
assignment, because boy do Ihave a doozy.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
There are a handful of them when I was working in
Akron, working with aphotographer by the name of John
Dix, and he and I got sent upto what was then the old Bureau
of Criminal Investigation officein Twinsburg.
Now we were driving up thereand we look over and we see all
this smoke coming out of abuilding.

(25:16):
John says I think that place ison fire.
I said you know, I think you'reright.
So we get off the exit thereand drive up there and there are
no fire trucks or anythingaround.
That's crazy.
So this is back in the daysbefore we had 911.
This is 1983, 84.
I don't remember the exact date.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
I thought you were going to say like 1805.
Oh my.

Speaker 3 (25:38):
God, it feels like it sometimes.
But anyway he gets on thetwo-way, calls the station.
They call the fire department,send them the address.
So I decide I'm going to go letpeople know that their building
is on fire.
So I run up this because thesmoke was coming from the
upstairs and there's likemultiple units, oh my gosh.
So I run up the steps and assoon as I get to the door I

(25:59):
think I could open this door anda fireball could come shooting
out and that is not good foranybody.
So I reached out.
I do what you know rememberlearning about.
You know, touch a doorknob ifsomething's on fire.
I didn't.
The doorknob was cool.
So I opened the door up kind ofslowly and all this smoke comes
out of it, but fortunately nofire.
So I go up running back andforth, back and forth, knocking

(26:22):
on doors, telling people hey,your building's on fire.
How they didn't smell the smoke, I don't know.
But as soon as they'd open thedoor they'd see the smoke.
Oh my gosh, what's going on?
So they'd grab their stuff andthey'd head out.
Finally I get up to this onedoor and it's barely cracked
open and I push the door openand I look inside and I see a
silhouette standing in the smoke.
A silhouette standing in thesmoke.
I said, hey, ma'am, you got toget out of here.

(26:44):
Building's on fire.
And she goes.
I know, and I was like, oh.
So I walked into the doorway andimmediately felt heat all
around.
I looked up, the ceiling was onfire, the walls up top are on
fire, things are smoked out.
I walked in and I said ma'am,you got to come in.

(27:04):
I'm thinking she's in shock.
And I hear another voice, anadult voice, and there's a woman
sitting there.
She goes we can't.
I said sure, you can, come on,let's go.
She goes no, we can't becauseof the baby.
I said baby, she goes.
It's too cold outside for thebaby.
I said it's too darn hot inhere.
I said where's the baby?
And all of a sudden I hear Ilook over the baby laying.

(27:26):
They got the baby laying in achair, so I grabbed the baby.
I said I don't.
Yeah, you all can stay in here,but I'm taking this baby
outside.
I grabbed the baby, I startwalking out the door and these
ladies are following me andthey're just yelling at me about
how we can't go outside becauseit's too cold outside.
And I got outside.
As soon as I got outside, thefire department pulled up my
hand the baby to a firefighter.
I said you better check thiskid out because he's been

(27:47):
sucking smoke for you know godknows how long and these lasers
yelling at me and anyway, as itturns out, everybody was okay
and this happened to be just afire, that it was accidental and
food on a stove, but that thatwas one of the weirdest things
that ever happened me on the,the job where I went in, and you
know that was kind of nuts.

(28:09):
Now there have been some otherthings that have happened where
you know, but yeah, that wasabout the weirdest thing that's
ever happened to me that I cantalk about.
Right, right, right.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
There you go and we have to talk about this one.
So Ann and I were covering acapital murder trial one time
and we would always you know,you're at the courthouse for so
long and I was young and I wasengaged at the time and I had a
ring on and everything and you'dalways just have to eat really
in the courthouse, becausethere's not a whole big gap

(28:42):
between testimony.
Yeah, we always ate together.
And one day the defenseattorney was walking downstairs
and Ann and I were just sittingthere eating and he was like hey
, can I talk to you?
And I feel like I looked at you, ann, like am I allowed to talk
to him?
I'm like what in the worldcould it be?

(29:03):
Because I'm not even sitting inthe courtroom.
There was a media room for thisparticular trial, so that's
where I was spending my time.
So he asks me if I want to gowith him to Cirque de Soleil and
I was like I go back.
And Ann's like well, what didhe want?
And I was like Ann, he asked meout on a date.

(29:24):
I'm practically married.
I'm here covering this capitalmurder trial and this guy's
saying how he has two tickets toCirque de Soleil and do I want
to go?
I felt like because I was ayoung reporter at the time that
he thought maybe like money orsomething was going to win me
over and I was appalled.
I was so embarrassed.

(29:45):
You remember that, ann.

Speaker 2 (29:47):
I absolutely remember that it was hilarious.
I was like, and you ended up.
You ended up because he that itwas hilarious.
I was like what?
And you ended up because he wasconsistent.
I mean that wasn't the onlything.
Yeah, I mean you ended uphaving to tell him a few things.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
My goodness, that was one of the craziest things I
remember, like shouldn't you befocusing on what you're going to
be saying next?
Not, hey, I've got two ticketsto Cirque du Soleil.
I was like wow, no, thank you,no means no.
So yeah, that was prettyinteresting.
Well, I know, anne, you want totalk about maybe some personal

(30:23):
growth and healing with Georgenext I wanted to get a little
bit more personal.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
George, I remember in high school you had this thing
and it was either a sucker youalways had in your mouth, or I
think it was a sucker, not atoothpick.
I'm not really sure, but Iremember that you actually
substituted, if I could say itthis way, one vice, a healthier
vice, for an unhealthy one, andyou know you learned back then

(30:53):
how to do that.
So I thought that maybe that wecould talk a little bit about
your health journey and whatthat struggle has looked like
for you.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
Oh man, yeah, Well, I was substituting for cigarettes
because I smoked, yeah, and youknow, I'd get in the car and
light up, I don't know.
I was an athlete too, which waskind of weird.
I don't know how the heck I wasable to sustain.
I played football, I wrestled,played baseball, depending on
the year in high school, playedfootball for years, but I smoked

(31:21):
.
I don't know how I was anathlete and smoked at the same
time, but I did.
I mean, you're young, you'rebulletproof, so you don't think
anything of it.
Young, you're, you know you'rebulletproof, so you don't think
anything of it.
But I continued to smoke upuntil, uh, actually 2001.
And it's one of the biggestregrets I have in life.
I wish I never started.
And I started because I thoughtyou know, as dumb as this sounds

(31:44):
and you always hear it, youknow I thought that it was what,
you know, some of my coolfriends were doing.
So I wanted to be like them andso I did.
And I thought, well, I canalways stop, in fact, and and
can I tell them that you were myprom date?
Yeah, we were friends.
Annie and I were friends allthrough high school.
She went to winter formal withhim and she was my prom date.
But I had this white tuxedo onMaybe we'll show them the

(32:08):
picture of the tuxedo Anyway andI had a pack of Marlboro Reds
that were right in the front ofthat front pocket of that tuxedo
.
I'm like a big idiot, you couldsee right through the pocket.
But I was smoking probablyabout a pack, pack and a half a
day and it went up to about twopacks a day as things progressed
.
But I wish I would have neverstarted.

(32:29):
I wish I would have neverstarted.
I wish I had never started.
That was one of the biggestregrets because it led to other
issues.
Uh, for a long time I was too,didn't have the lung capacity to
uh, to exercise the way Iprobably should have.
I was working as a producer andassignmenter so I was pretty
sedentary, sat behind a deskmost of the day.

(32:49):
So on top of the cigarettes Istarted to gain weight.
I went from about 210 to 15 inhigh school and college, up to
almost 400 pounds at one pointand smoking and just not living
a very healthy lifestyle andeating just poorly.
I got kind of it got kind ofhairy there and finally I was

(33:11):
working in Akron.
I'd been carrying all thisweight around.
I quit smoking in 2001, a weekbefore 9-11 happened.
How I didn't start smoking, Idon't know.
That was a good thing.
They were happy about that.
I couldn't.
You know.
No matter what I did, theweight stayed on.
In fact, it got worse and Ijust wasn't exercising, wasn't
doing anything.
I was, you know, working ininside most of the time Couldn't

(33:32):
be a very effective father whenmy kids wanted to play,
couldn't be a very effectivehusband a lot of times because I
was either too tired or just,you know, I was out of shape.
It was not always the easiestperson to be around.
And then in uh, it was Januaryof 2013.
I had.
I went to the doctor.
I was working at Channel 5 inCleveland.

(33:52):
My doctor was at Akron CityHospital and she said if you
keep up like this, my bloodsugar was out of control, my
weight was out of control, mycholesterol was out of control,
my blood pressure was out ofcontrol.
She said I'll give you maybe ayear and a half.
She goes.
The trajectory is not good.
I said what do you suggest?
She said I'll give you maybe ayear and a half.
She goes.
The trajectory is not good.
I said what do you suggest?

(34:13):
She said we're going to have toget aggressive.
I said what do you mean byaggressive?
I said I've tried every dietunder the sun.
She goes aggressive.
Aggressive, I'm talking aboutsurgery, weight loss surgery and
so I had a Roux-en-Y gastricbypass.
Here's the thing they don't letyou just get it.
You don't just walk into thehospital and get this.
They run you through a varietyof medical tests so they test

(34:34):
your lung capacity, heart bonesI mean anything physical but
they also test you emotionallyand they have you go through
counseling sessions so that youcan they can assess where you
are, what might be some of yourissues that could be
contributing to your weight, toyour lack of success when trying

(34:55):
to tackle that problem, andcome up with strategies for
doing something about that oncethe surgery is done.
That journey started in Januaryof 2013.
September of 2013, the surgerywas performed.
2013,.
September of 2013, the surgerywas performed.

(35:16):
Um, they put you on a prettystrict diet for about two months
before you even have thesurgery, and the reason for that
is they want to get rid of alot of the fat around your liver
.
Uh, because it's easier for themto go in when they do the
surgery, but it's also easier onyour liver and gallbladder
afterward.
So I went, I weighed probablyabout 378 pounds and somewhere
in that ballpark in July of 2013, when they put me on the, it's

(35:39):
almost like a fasting plan.
It's a liquid diet.
They give you, you know, twomonths and I dropped down to
about 240, 340.
I'm sorry, 340.
They give you one last.
It's kind of like your lastmeal.
They give you a last meal abouta week out from your surgery.
Go ahead and eat whatever youwant, because this is the last
time you're actually going to beable to do something like this.

(35:59):
And then I went in for thesurgery and within 24 hours
after the surgery, my bloodsugar had normalized, my
cholesterol was on a downwardtrajectory and my blood pressure
had fallen into the normalrange After about three months.

(36:21):
I came off of a variety ofmedications.
I still remain on two, but theyare there as protective.
One is that they run into anissue with people who've had the
surgery having kidney issues.
So they have me on a medicineit's technically a blood
pressure medicine, but itprotects my kidneys and then
they have.
The other issue is that you cansometimes develop some pancreas

(36:42):
issues, so they have me on amedication that essentially
boosts my pancreas function, butthat's it.
I've lost.
I now weigh about 230 pounds,so I've lost roughly 140 pounds.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
That's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
You look great, thank you.
Thank you.
I'm still not skinny, but I'm aheck of a lot better than I was
.
My blood pressure is undercontrol, my blood sugar is under
control, my cholesterol isunder control.
I exercise routinely, I'm in myjob, I'm constantly up and down
riverbanks and through woodsand hiking and I just I'm

(37:17):
physically active.
I'm probably in better shapenow than I was in my 30s, and
you know how to cook.
I do know how to cook.

Speaker 2 (37:22):
Your mom knew how to cook.
Your mom did.
I mean you definitely got ithonestly, and I see all of your
cooking pictures and things likethat.
I mean you know how to do it.

Speaker 3 (37:34):
My mom.
Yeah, you're right, I got myfishing passion from my dad.
I got my cooking passion frommy mom, my mother.
We didn't realize this untilafter she had passed and we were
running through her papers.
She had always talked aboutgoing to cooking school in New
Jersey.
Her story would make a greatbook.
She just had this kind of wildride life.
But she was working as adomestic and for a family in New

(37:55):
Jersey and they sent her tocooking school because they
wanted somebody who could cook.
What she never said was that itwas actually a chef school and
she had her certificates inculinary and in pastry, which
you know.
After I realized that, then Irealized why she did some of the
things she did in the kitchen.
I learned from her, you know,and that's part of it.
You know I I still, you know Istill don't always, um, do what

(38:19):
I should eating wise, but I tryto counter it elsewhere and
there are little tricks I can doin the kitchen that, uh, can
dress up a a dish so that youmay may not have the caloric
impact, so to speak, that youmight see otherwise.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
Well, it's probably because you want to be here, the
best version of you, and behere for your family.

Speaker 3 (38:40):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I like living, I like beingalive, I like being a part of
this.
I hope I can do it for as longas I can.
I had a dream.
I told my wife she stuck withme for a while.
I had a dream that I lived tobe 106, you know, fingers
crossed, knock on wood I thoughtI'm going to be a pain in her
behind for a long time.

(39:00):
But even if I wasn't doing whatI was doing, my outlook on
things is that you know, we'rehere to just make the most of it
.
Have fun.
You don't need a lot of money.
You don't need.
All you need are people thatyou love and people who love you
, and even if they don't, what'sthe most important thing is you

(39:20):
love them.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
Well, Ann, I wanted to transition into family and
fatherhood questions for George,if that's okay, yeah there's a
sensitive topic that I thoughtmaybe we could talk a little bit
about right now, if that's okaywith you, about your daughter's
challenges, if you could sharea little bit about that.

Speaker 3 (39:39):
My daughter, rachel.
She's my daughter from my firstmarriage.
She's going to be 39 this year.
She, back about seven years agoshe was visiting a friend,
spent the night, was notfamiliar with the house, thought
the door to the bathroom.
She had to get up.
In the middle of the night,dark, she thought she was

(40:00):
opening the door to the bathroom.
What she instead opened was thedoor to the basement.
She went down the stairs, hither head.
Unfortunately, she was therefor several hours without any
assistance.
I won't go into the particularsabout that, except that she
didn't get assistance for abouteight hours.

(40:22):
When they finally got her tothe hospital the hospital was in
suburban Toledo Realized thather case was too much for them
to handle, so they immediatelyflew her to the Medical College
of Ohio and they did emergencybrain surgery and they had to

(40:43):
take blood off of her brain.
But by that time the blood hadcaused so much pressure on
various parts of her brain thathad created a traumatic brain
injury.
Her recovery has been slow.
At one point we had a doctorsay tell us, he was quite honest
with us and I appreciate that.
And he said Rachel's recoveryis not on a clock, it's on a

(41:05):
calendar and he said you couldbe looking at.
You know, a 10 to 15 yearrecovery period for her to get
function back to.
And she may never get thatfunction back.
She's able to talk now.
She goes to therapy, she's ableto stand.
She has trouble walking.
Hopefully we'll get there.
And one of the biggest regrets Ihad was I had to leave Toledo

(41:29):
to come here.
But I had to do that for myself.
She was in very good care and Istill.
I talk to her regularly, I seeher as often as I can.
I wish I could be there withher more, but I know she's in
good hands and I keep tabs onher recovery and the best we can
hope for at this point is forher to continue to make her slow
progress and hope for abreakthrough.

(41:51):
Just keep her alive and strongand keep her comfortable and see
these little gains in the hopesthat one day there could be a
breakthrough that could lead toa big gain.
And she's still relativelyyoung.
She's 39 years old.
There's a whole lot of timethere and there's a whole lot of
research being done and itwould.
You know, I'm confident, I'moptimistic that we will overcome

(42:13):
this, but it's just where weare right now.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
Wow, that's incredible.
I'm so sorry, I did not knowabout that.
My goodness, you seem to all ofyou face it with as much grace
as can be expected.
So I guess that leads me tothen well, how has that changed
you, and as a person, and evenas a father, or has it not?
I imagine it would.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
You worry about your kids a lot more.
You know you don't take thingsfor granted.
You know she went to a friend'shouse and that happened.
You know I with my son, I I'mtalking to him multiple times a
day.
I keep tabs on him.
I get worried if I don't hearback from him right away.
You know my stepkids.
I try to keep tabs on them asmuch as I can.
I'm very proud of all of them.

(42:58):
It makes you, it makes you takea good look at who they are,
because who they are is a resultof what you did as a parent.
But, man, I'll tell you, Iworry about them a lot more than
I ever did before.

Speaker 2 (43:12):
I understand that, and I'm sure you do too, tina.
As a mom of three boys, I meanit's really difficult, and I've
got two olders and three littles, and the bigger they get, the
bigger the problems, mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (43:29):
You know, someone once told me the first 10 years
is really hard physically onparents.
You know they're little, soyou're, you know running around
and this and that, but then thenext 10 years is really hard
mentally because, like you said,ann, the problems get bigger
and now it's more a mentaldifficulty for the parent versus

(43:51):
a physical exhaustion.

Speaker 2 (43:53):
You know, I found out a lot of the things that my
second oldest daughter did laterand it's like I'm so glad that
I did not know when that washappening Because I, you know, I
probably would have been likefive steps behind her everywhere
she went.
But you know, we lived, we madeit to adulthood and sometimes

(44:19):
it is really difficult to cutthat string and to let them be
who they need to be.
It can be very scary.
I'm so sorry that that happenedto your daughter.

Speaker 3 (44:28):
Well, thank you, I mean, I appreciate that, I
appreciate that, I appreciatethat.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Yeah Well, I know that none of us get where we are
alone.
We need that support system.
I guess who do you credit withhelping you believe in yourself
along the way of all of thesejourneys that we've talked about
today, professionally, withyour passions and as a person
and a dad?

Speaker 3 (44:51):
Most recently, and for the past 20 years, it would
be my wife.
Her name is Kim she.
We don't always see eye to eyeon things, but I know she's
always got my back and there aretimes when her counsel is what
I need most in life.
There are times when her smileis what I need most in life.

(45:11):
There are times when her smileis what I need most in life.
I have a hard time putting whatshe means to me in words
because this is going to soundodd.
I knew she was the one becauseI'd been through two other
marriages before.
I knew she was the one when, onour first date, I found it easy
just to sit and watch a movieon TV with her.

(45:32):
It was just as simple as that.
I felt comfortable.
I didn't feel like I had to beanything different.
I felt like I was who I was.
I was comfortable in my ownskin.
I felt accepted, and it hasbeen that way for 20 years.

Speaker 1 (45:45):
I can relate to that with my husband.
I knew the moment I met him,honestly truly, that he would be
the one.
Now we waited five years beforewe got married, but it was that
comfort.
I know exactly what you'retalking about.

Speaker 3 (45:58):
It was two years for us.
We met online.
It was one of those.
This is funny and then we canget back to some of the other
stuff.
I got called into work.
I didn't want to go to work, Iwas living my.
I was living with with alandlord out in Rockville,
maryland.
I was working in DC and she hada bad habit.
We hit, we each had individualphones.
It was me and another guy livedupstairs.

(46:19):
She lived downstairs, but ifshe were upstairs and she heard
the phone ring, she'd pick it up.
Well, she thought she was doingus a favor and I told her.
I said Sarah, do not answer myphone today.
I know there's a guy who'sgoing to call out sick at work
and I know that I'm going to beone of the first people they
call to try to get in to fill ashift.
It was an overnight shift toproduce a Sunday morning
newscast.
She goes okay and like 10minutes later the phone rings.

(46:43):
I'm in the kitchen she happenedto be up the hallway and I hear
the phone stop ringing, George,the phone's like, no, no, so I
go and I pick up the phone.
It's work.
Hey, I had a call out.
Can you come in.
I'm like, okay, I'll come in.
I went, I got a couple hours ofsleep, ended up going in, got

(47:03):
the newscast produced.
I was in a bad mood because Ihad to be there.
In fact, it was 20 years ago.
Today I'm sitting there aroundtwo o'clock in the morning, a
commercial comes on for eHarmonyand I'm like, oh, that's a
bunch of crap, that stuffdoesn't work.
And I kept watching and it was ahalf hour infomercial and so
I'm like, well, I'm going tospend they kept talking about

(47:25):
their for one week special $11.
I'm going to spend $11 on lunchnext week.
Let's check this out.
So I go to the website and I'mthere's no way this is going to
work.
This doesn't work.
And I do their test and theysay we've got matches for you.
And so I pay my $11.
And she was the second person Imet on ER and so, yeah, thereby

(47:46):
proving me wrong, that stuffdid work, at least in my case.
So that's how we met, had adate the next week.
We've been together ever since,with the exception of having to
work or one of us having to gosee relatives or be out of town
for something like that, we'vebeen pretty much had contact
with each other almost every day.
That's wonderful.

(48:07):
It's been fun.
So third time's a charm, huhyeah now, prior to that, my mom
or my dad, my brother's been uhreal supportive, he and I, and
knows harold and harold.
They graduated the same class.
Harold and I have differentconfigurations.
He was always kind of thin andathletic and I wasn't.

(48:29):
Um, he's uh, you know he's,he's kind of thin and athletic
and I wasn't.
He's kind of a big personality,but in a different way he's a
real take charge sort of guy.
I look up to him for thatbecause he always seems to have
an answer and in reality he andmy wife are my best friends.
I can still call him.
We talk frequently.
There's a problem with my sink?

(48:50):
I'll call Harold and see whathe says.
He does the same with me forfishing.
So I mean, what the heck that'swhat friends are for?
Exactly, exactly, and so youknow that's.
You want to know thoseinfluences right there that we
talked about teachers before,and again my mom and dad.
That's beautiful.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
I've enjoyed this so much.
So you know, george, I justwant to say I'm going to have to
run in, and I know well, george, you're in good hands with Ann,
as you know.
Yeah, thanks for being on withus.
Oh, sure, my pleasure Okay.

Speaker 2 (49:25):
I'll see you guys, you know.
I wanted to ask you, george,about your awards and honors
that I know that you havereceived, and talk a little bit
about those and what they meantto you.

Speaker 3 (49:36):
Oh yeah, of course I'm a competitive guy, so I've
won a variety of awards, datingall the way back Ohio United
Press International Awards, ohioAP Awards.
I won an newscast, uh, majormarket newscast.
Actually, one of the ones I'mmost proud of is I was named the

(49:57):
top broadcast agriculturereporter in the state of
Virginia.
Uh, in in 2023.
And I take a different tack onon agriculture reporting.
You know, farmers know where toget the ag report.
They don't need me for that,but what they do need me to do
is explain their stories to thepeople who they ultimately serve
, and that's the people who theyproduce or raise food for, and

(50:22):
so it's a very consumeragriculture sort of focus and so
I take their stories but I putthem into context for consumers.
I do a lot of stories in thatvein and I've had a lot of fun
with that.
So that one was kind of specialto me the Emmy, just because
you don't get to win those toooften.

(50:42):
I've been nominated for others.
I won an award for heritagereporting, virginia Associated
Press.
That was a year ago and that isfun.
That's fun for me.
And you know I hear a lot offolks say I don't care if I win
any awards.
You know what I always likethat pat on the back.
I kind of crave that.

Speaker 2 (51:03):
Yeah Well, when you're as competitive as you are
, I mean, and you work reallyhard, so it's really nice to be
able to be validated every nowand then and say you know what
you're good at, what you do.

Speaker 3 (51:15):
Right, right and that's it, you know.
You know I'm putting a lot oftime 60, 70, 80 hours in a week.
Just that's what the job callsfor.
You know it is nice when youget to go to that awards banquet
and, you know, wave a statuearound or whatever.
There's a little bit of apayoff there.
I mean, everybody's got an ego,I got one.

Speaker 2 (51:36):
Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, because you
earned it.

Speaker 3 (51:39):
I thank you.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
You know, I wanted to get a little personal here
because I had, like we said atthe very beginning of the
podcast, we've known each otherforever, it seems like, and I
had a hard time in high school,but you were always there and I
want to tell this this part ofyou you know, kind of paint a
picture of who you were then andwho I think that you are for

(52:04):
our listeners and because wenever ran out of things to talk
about.
You were like you could talkabout anything and we would talk
for hours and hours.
Like you said, just walk in thehallways or whatever, and you
never judged me or anybody.

(52:25):
You were just as good asfriends with the football
players as every other clique inthe school and we had a very
cliquey school.
We did, yeah, and you would befriends with those who didn't
even have friends.
You didn't care what anybodythought of you, you were just
friends with everybody.

(52:46):
And I just have to share thisbecause this is one of my
favorite memories and I thinkyou might know what.
I just have to share thisbecause you know this is one of
my favorite memories and I thinkyou might know what I'm going
to share, but one of the thingsthat we like to do is just get
in the car and drive, and wewould drive and drive and talk
and, you know, not even thinkabout anything.
And then one day we justhappened to look up and there

(53:07):
was West Virginia.
We were crossing into anotherstate and it was like, okay, you
know, we didn't even kind ofrealize that we had gone that
far, turned around, crossed thestate line, turned around and
went back home.

Speaker 3 (53:24):
I remember that trip I do.
We were driving and that's whatwe were doing.
We got in the car and we justtalked.
And I love talking to you,annie, it was fun, I felt
comfortable with you, I feltbecause you know, as you said,
you never judged me, you never,ever thought what I said was
dumb or whatever.
You just let me be me.

(53:46):
And that was cool.
I remember that whole trip andthinking, wow, how did?
Yeah, how did we get here?

Speaker 2 (53:53):
I know I was like we're in West Virginia it was.
It was a great trip.

Speaker 3 (53:58):
I mean it was great just spending time with you and
talking, because you were soeasy to talk to and I enjoyed
talking to you.

Speaker 2 (54:04):
Yeah, and it was the same.
And you know I tell thisbecause you know you took a
person and maybe you didn'trealize this because you said,
you know you really enjoyedtalking to me too, but I was a
pretty hurting kid back then andyou showed me how to be free,
you accepted me and you knowthat really meant so much to me

(54:26):
because you were a leader in theschool in school that I felt
that everyone kind of looked to.
You know you were football teamshowman, mr Personality.
You were funny, like everybodyliked you and you proved because

(54:48):
you always seem to meeteverybody where they were.
And you did that recently whenyou met my one son and it was
kind of fun because he stillwell, and he probably will if he
ever sees you again he's goingto hold you to going fishing
because he really wants to gofishing.
There you go.
Yeah, I mean that's his thing.
But you right off the bat andhe's not an easy kid to connect

(55:08):
with.
But he instantly connected withyou and talk about what you
mentioned earlier.
Connected with you and talkabout what you mentioned earlier
.
I told him that you were goingto be on and he's like oh, you
mean the one that whispered inmy ear.
She was my prompt date and Iwas like, yeah, that one.
So I mean, he just got thebiggest kick out of that.

(55:30):
So I know that we have apicture somewhere of us that
we'll have to post up with this,but it was really funny.
But the point of this was thatyou connected with wife, your
family, you know you're fishing,you're cooking, just everything

(55:58):
about you are who you are,you're authentically you.
You know you don't fake it andthat's what's so beautiful about
who you are.
And I thought maybe you couldtalk a little bit about meeting
people where they are, and maybeit's just natural for you.

Speaker 3 (56:14):
I consider anybody I meet I automatically assume
they're my friend and I try notto judge, because we're all
weird in our own way.
And if you like something and Idon't, that's cool, because
there are a lot of people wholike things that I don't and
there are a lot of people wholike the same things I do.

(56:35):
But it's also a learningexperience.
I like to learn from people yes, me too and I want to know who
you are.
I want to.
You know, it's not anythingconscious.
I don't come up and think, well, I'm just not.
I'm not going to be judgmental,it's just it's just who you are

(56:58):
.

Speaker 2 (56:58):
Yeah, it's just what I am.

Speaker 3 (56:59):
This is what I do.
Yeah, I mean, I think thatthat's just a beautiful thing.
If more people could be likethat, could you imagine?
Yeah, I wish, yeah, yeah, Icould.
I think we're always secure inour own way and I think that's
how that comes out A lot oftimes.
People try to represent, or they.
They think somebody is judgingthem, so they're going to judge
you first and you can judge meall you want, I don't care, but
I can't remember the name of thesinger who he said and this

(57:24):
kind of resonated with me.
He goes I like all of you, Idon't hate any of you.
For me to hate you, I'd have toget to know you.
And if I don't know you, howcan I find anything not to like
about you?
And if I do get to know you,chances are I'm probably going
to find something to like aboutyou anyway.

(57:44):
So it's just kind of and again,it's not anything conscious,
it's just what I do.
It's who I am.
I'm not looking to proveanything, so you don't have to
prove anything to me.
Let's just be who we are andenjoy that.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
I just saw this TikTok I'm into TikTok and it
was like this this dad wasasking he had a picture of all
these kids and he just said, youknow which one is?
And you know, they were justkind of cartoony, not really you
know real, but and he was ayoung boy and he said to him so

(58:24):
which one of these kids are ugly, which one of them is pretty,
which one of them is mean, whichone is nice, and that kind of
stuff.
And every single one, he waslike, well, they're all pretty,
they're all nice.
I don't know if they're mean,you know, and that kind of thing
.
And his dad was so proud of himbecause that's the way he saw
them, you know, and if we reallycould and it is a different

(58:46):
time, but I remembered with youthat you were genuinely open and
friendly to every single personand it didn't matter who they
were, where they came from, whatwalk of life, what they look
like or anything.
You were just a beautiful human.
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 3 (59:06):
I appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
Yeah, I always saw you as that guy who could be the
most successful in school, youknow, and I was really impressed
that you did go to DC to go tocollege and I would listen to
you talk about everything.
You talk about me not beingjudgmental about your views or
anything.
I mean, I just saw you as sosmart so I was just like you

(59:28):
could just spout off anythingand everything and I was just
like, wow, he is so smart so,and I did miss our conversations
after you left, but I also knewthat you were bound for
greatness.
So I have to be honest, though,when I saw you were no longer
in the newsroom and here youwere, in the middle of the lake,
literally, I was like I mean,this is so, george, this is just

(59:53):
so cool.
So what could be next forGeorge, do you know, is this?
It Is this where you land.

Speaker 3 (01:00:00):
There's always the possibility that, working in
this business, I could end upsomewhere else.
I really like it here inRoanoke.
From what I do, it's prettycentrally located.
Up Um, from what I do, it'spretty centrally located.
Uh, again, I'm doing stuff forstations in DC and um, all over
the mid Atlantic and in theSouth.

(01:00:22):
Ideally I stay here, but uh,you know, who knows, I don't
know.
I uh, in addition to what I dohere, I've been thinking about
getting into some documentary uhfilm production.
Actually, uh, dabbled inwriting.
I've been thinking aboutgetting into some documentary
film production.

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
Actually dabbled in writing.
I'm a poet.

Speaker 3 (01:00:40):
I write poetry.
Oh, that's great, it's beenpublished.
But I'm writing more, and Imean everybody has that dream.
I mean you've written a book.
You know what that's like?
I have not yet.
I need to sometimes feel like Ihave the need to do that.
I need to sometimes feel like Ihave the need to do that.
Here's working.
Doing these fishing stories hastaken me to some really
beautiful places and I'm tryingto find a way to capture that

(01:01:04):
beauty.
Were you familiar with, likeParts Unknown, the late great
Anthony Bourdain, when he woulduse food as the thread?

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:01:13):
To introduce you to people and places.
I would like to do that withfishing or the outdoors.
You learn about a place.
Fishing is the ticket, but onceyou're there you get to learn
about these people and theirunique cultures and customs and
the place.
That's great.
But getting there, talkingabout it and actually

(01:01:37):
formulating an action plan andall that is still down the road
a little bit, but it mighthappen.
So I'll keep you in the loop onthat one.

Speaker 2 (01:01:45):
Yeah, I really love that you have another passion,
from what I understand, poker.

Speaker 3 (01:01:50):
I played poker semi-professionally for a number
of years.
Poker is the kind of game and Iwas pretty good at it.
I won a few things here andthere, and I started back in the
mid-90s.
Poker is the kind of game whereyou can execute what you need
to do perfectly and still lose.
And when poker paid the billsafter the recession hit, I was

(01:02:15):
lucky if I could work seven daysa month.

Speaker 2 (01:02:18):
No.

Speaker 3 (01:02:19):
So it's just the need for I was freelancing and
full-time journalism.
Jobs got cut becauseadvertising dollars got cut.
So I was living in Baltimore,Maryland, working in DC when I
could freelancing and I wouldrun up to Atlantic city and play
in select tournaments or playcash games.

(01:02:39):
I did all right.
But you can't.
There's an old saying in pokerscared money can't play, scared
money can't play Okay.
And if what that means is ifyou're sitting at the table and
you're scared to do what youknow is the correct thing in a
certain situation, then youprobably shouldn't be sitting at

(01:03:01):
the table.
And when it came down to okay,the correct play in this
situation is to push all in.
What I have, essentially, isnext week's groceries and
electric and water bill sittingin front of me, and if I push
all in, there's a chance I couldlose it all.
Now I could double up and thatwould be a good thing, but I
could still make the correctplay with three aces in my hand

(01:03:24):
and if the guy sitting acrossfrom me you know who's wanting
me to call with an all-in bethas a full house, I'm done.
So I had to walk away from it.
I still play for fun, but Ican't, I couldn't take the gut
wrenching anymore, okay and uh,you know, but, but you learn
from it.
You learn sometimes you got totake risks and you learn when

(01:03:46):
you should walk away fromsomething because it's just not
right for you, right, so I'llstill play.
I'll I'll play in friendlytournaments.
I look back on it fondly.

Speaker 2 (01:03:56):
Hey, that's what it's all about, right?
It's all part of the journey.
We take things with us alongthe way.
So I mean, and that's what kindof makes it fun, and you've got
great memories from it too.

Speaker 3 (01:04:08):
I got to see some cool places.
I mean I got to go to AtlanticCity.
I got to go to casinos on theGulf Coast.
I got to go to casinos inNevada.
I got to go to casinos all overthe place and stay and meet
some cool people.
I mean there's a certain honoramongst poker players.
Sure, we're all trying to lieto each other to get each
other's money at the table, butaway from it they're pretty cool

(01:04:30):
people and they will help youif you need help, and they're
honest in that regard.

Speaker 2 (01:04:35):
It's all part of meeting people, meeting all
kinds of different people fromall walks of life.
Right, I've watched those pokershows every now and then and
it's really interesting.

Speaker 3 (01:04:46):
There's so much that goes into it.
I mean, there's psychology, butthere's also math and I thought
I was terrible at math until Iactually realized that I wasn't,
and that was because I wassitting at a poker table.
Because you're making multiplecalculations every hand that
you're in, you're trying to readpeople.
You have to be partpsychologist, part sociologist,
part mathematician.

(01:05:07):
You're looking at what otherpeople do and you pick up what
are called tells.
It's a good life experience.
It's not for everybody, um.
But yeah, I walked away becauseI just needed to.

Speaker 2 (01:05:22):
What I get out of this interview with you is that
you follow your heart, you know,you follow your passion and
you're never bored.
You are never bored.

Speaker 3 (01:05:32):
No, I'm not.
I'm always doing something.
I'm always fine, you know, butthat's, that's also a state of
mind.
I mean, I do get bored fromtime to time, but I try not to
let myself.

Speaker 2 (01:05:43):
Things are always churning up here too, so yeah, I
was going to say how could youget bored in that mind?

Speaker 3 (01:05:48):
Yeah, Right, I'm just getting lost up here.
That's the problem.

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
Oh, that's so funny.
Well, I really appreciate youbeing on here today, George.
This has been really great.
You know, I mean, most of thetime if I'm interviewing people,
it's people that I don't reallyknow, and so this is really
great that I got to actuallyrevisit a time in my life.

Speaker 3 (01:06:10):
Well, same here.
You're a dear friend.
I love you dearly.
We have known each other fordecades.
You still look like you're 18years old.
You're still gorgeous.
So you know, whatever you'redoing, keep doing it, because
it's working.

Speaker 2 (01:06:25):
I, on the other hand, I got to get some hair color, I
think.
You're still George, youhaven't changed at all.
I mean, yes, you have some grayhair now yes, you do, but
you're still that George that Iknew and accidentally ended up
in West Virginia with yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:06:43):
Oh, I appreciate you having me on.
I appreciate it very much.
It's been a blast, it's been alot of fun, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:06:49):
Well, we're going to end it here and I just want to
thank everybody for listeningand, as usual on Real Talk with
Tina and Anne, there is purposein the pain and there is always
hope in the journey.
So we really thank you againfor listening and we will see
you again next time.
Thanks y'all.