

It had a timbre that cut through everything.” And he had that voice that commanded attention. “He had everything you would want in an anchor. He was great,” said longtime reporter and anchor Hal Clement, who worked with Tuck from 1979 until Tuck left for KGTV in 1984. Tuck started at KFMB in 1978, launching an award-winning, ratings-generating career in local broadcasting that made him one of the most high-profile people in local media - and made his voice one of the most recognizable sounds in town. Leitner recommended Tuck, and news director Jim Holtzman hired him. Less than a year after Leitner was hired by KFMB, an anchor position opened up there. (Charlie Neuman / The San Diego Union-Tribune) It turned out to be fortuitous friendship. Between 19, Tuck worked at KTVU in San Francisco and WCAU in Philadelphia, where he met Leitner. He studied journalism at Trinity University in San Antonio, and by the time he graduated in 1970, he had already put in three years at KENS-TV in San Antonio. “To me, the presidency of the United States took a back seat to what they were doing.” Cecil, who died in 2021, was head writer of “The Smother’s Brothers Comedy Hour.” In a 2000 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune, Tuck remembered wanting to follow in his brothers’ fascinating footsteps. Both men started off in radio broadcasting. Tuck’s fascination with broadcast news started with his older brothers, Cecil and Gene. He wanted to do what the big boys did, and it worked out very well.” “He wanted to be more than the local news guy doing the live shot at the fire. “I think Mike might have identified with guys like (TV journalists) Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid,” said veteran local sportscaster Ted Leitner, whose on-air banter with Tuck was always a highlight of the KFMB broadcasts. Tuck described his father as a brilliant man and a socialist, and when Tuck began loosening his anchorman tie and speaking his mind about local politicians and hot-button issues during his sometimes-controversial “Perspectives” commentaries on KGTV, you could hear Irvin’s social conscience coming through. His father, Irvin, changed jobs frequently, working at a dairy and in an oil field, but also as a teacher. 10, 1945, in Silsbee, Texas - grew up with empathy in his heart and journalism in his veins. “He always felt like he was sharing a story. “He loved that award because he loved to communicate,” Tuck’s wife, Jill, said Thursday from the couple’s home in Rancho Bernardo. For Tuck, who died on Wednesday at the age of 76 after a long battle with post-stroke complications, it wasn’t the voice that mattered.

That voice and the journalistic chops behind it helped Tuck win multiple awards, including 15 regional Emmys, four Golden Mike Awards and the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award.īut one of his favorite awards from the recognition-rich 1980s came as a part of Disabled Awareness Week, when he was voted the most easily lip-read newscaster in town. A resonate, self-assured, built-for-broadcasting baritone that made everything he said sound worthy of everyone’s attention. He had the commanding on-air presence, the ability to pivot gracefully from breaking-news bulletins to heartwarming human-interest stories, and the confidence to share his opinions on polarizing topics, regardless of the fallout.Īnd Tuck had a voice.
Tuck tucker san jacinto north tv#
During his high-profile decades on the KFMB, KGTV and KUSI TV news desks, San Diego’s Michael Tuck was the ultimate anchorman.
