Old Building. The Way We Were. Jerry Appy Obit; New Building

My memories, like the calls of my mind Misty water kind of matter We will stop the way we were New building Okay New building is a metaphor for life New building We are in the new building You can do this again We are going to do this again We have some more building dinners in here first I think this move is one of the dumbest things ever I don't ever want to leave this building They gave us a window, we had a fight for it They gave us a real live window Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind Smiles we gave to one another

All the way we were You better get this sign here What's up? Everybody is coming here today as bitch about this sign There will be no errands They're all from PI, aren't they? What's up? Was that good? That was great You'd be wonderful tape job Well, you know that's what they say I do good tape, I give good tape Shoot What are you having there? A basket for the basket case Shoes in case I should get tired from wearing my heels some days And when it's really too hot, I spray myself

How long have you been here from this building? I don't know, I think I was here before they built the building They started building it around me There used to be a tree growing here I was sitting up in this tree And they started putting bricks all around it There I was Can it be that it was all so simple then? All has time, we've written a rely If we had the chance to do it all again Tell me what we could win It's sweat equity I'm a master control operator I don't do manual labor And I'm going to sue We tend to cleanliness and ordinance at all times So this is the OPV way for anyone in the future

who wants to know the right way to develop film and paper As you can see, as a policy equipment out, we tell you to pledge now Pledge those dollars now because right now they're pulling away our master control switch What next will go could be the transmitters So it's the laughter We will remember Whenever we remember The way we were The way we were The way we were

The way we were The way we were The way we were The way we were The way we were The way we were The way we were

The way we were The way we were 1981 was a turning point for Oregon Public Broadcasting It was the year that Jerry Opie left his job as vice president of communications at the flagship PBS station in New York and assumed command of a troubled Oregon educational and public broadcasting service Financial support was inadequate as were the facilities and equipment Quality was sporadic Locally produced programs and the on-air image were badly in need of repair Sound and pictures were not transmitted as clearly as other stations And there were too many people who had no signal at all Public confidence was low Morale suffered badly

One paper wrote that we needed a miracle worker Oregon needed someone with knowledge and experience in broadcasting who could teach Someone with a sense of purpose and high standards of professionalism so he could lead Someone who understood what the responsibilities were to our viewers and listeners In order to gain their direct support and involvement Someone with a patient's confidence and determination to show that miracles can happen Jerry Opie had that experience After studying drama in college he left to serve as a marine dive bomber pilot in 1942 A dangerous job that cost the lives of many men. Jerry finished the war as a captain In peacetime he worked as an actor in radio and television going on to become a sportscaster, producer, director, and programming executive And 35 years ago his new target became educational broadcasting Moving steadily through an emerging industry Jerry became one of the founding fathers of national educational television Which evolved into today's public broadcasting service

His purpose grew from respect for the viewer Bill Moyers wrote that Jerry's philosophy stemmed from his faith that people are intelligent citizens and need to be regarded as such That meant quality overall Quality programs delivered through a national electronic network of which he was a principal architect And though we always emphasize substance and content he was a man of style A man who knew that public television had to be as he said more than a man in a grey suit in front of a grey curtain When he left his vice president's chair at WNET in 1981 to come here he told the staff that they could do better If Jerry believed that it had to be true He told everyone who would listen that each citizen has a responsibility as well And people everywhere began to express a newfound faith in Jerry Opie and the new streamlined Oregon public broadcasting Today throughout Oregon people can tune into a clear signal which carries the best news Public affairs and cultural programs anywhere in the world

His dream of a professional broadcast center for Oregon finally came true The Oregon Network has become one of the premier PBS affiliates in the country Ratings, public support and morale all climbed accordingly But Jerry would never take credit for this He would praise our supporters in government and business He would thank our members who contributed time, money and energy He would congratulate every staff member behind a camera or a soldering iron or a typewriter But most of all he would thank everyone who watched public television or listened to public radio It was his baby and he loved it And if you loved it too then that was all that he needed Jerry did have a peculiar way of expressing his thanks over the airwaves though On a suggestion from his wife and lifelong partner Shirley, Jerry decided to suspend regular programming each Christmas Eve It's too busy, he said Let's just have pictures of the U-log burning at the main fireplace at Timberline Some carols and peaceful music to listen to but nothing else The staff was sure Jerry had his first public relations disaster in the making

But viewers loved it and still do It's beautiful and peaceful and lovely they wrote One actually feels the warmth coming into our home they said People from Astoria to Burns huddled around their TV sets After a long and often painful illness Jerry died Sunday But as his son Chris said of his father's authoritative voice We're going to have to try harder now but I'm sure he'll continue to find ways to be heard We're going to have to try harder now We're going to have to try harder now

We're going to have to try harder now We're going to have to try harder now