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by Cliff Roles,
radio host 1220 AM Talk Of The Sun Coast, columnist
SCENE Magazine
On her 65th birthday, Linda Carson's gift to herself was
to join the "Luffing Lassies", part of the Sarasota
Sailing Squadron, buy herself a 17' Pram sailing boat
and learn how to sail. That was five years ago. Amazing
as it is to believe, Linda turned 70 on July 11 this
year.
She still sails a lot nowadays: "I capsized last week"
she blushes. "Two men from the chase boat had to fish me
out of the bay!" I visit Linda at her desk in Sarasota's
ABC 7 studios on Tenth Street, where she's preparing the
weekend news together with her producer Courtney. We
chat as she proudly shows me photos of her four children
and three grandchildren.
This past Monday, December 7, Linda made her way to her
church to celebrate the life of her late husband Bud
Carson, the acclaimed former football coach to whom she
was married for 35 years. He passed away on that date in
2005. "I'm helping to send my two grandsons to college
in Bud's name", she tells me. She's also formed the Bud
Carson Memorial Scholarship, which awards $ 5,000 every
year to a defensive High School football player who
embodies "the backbone of the team". Three players have
already received this scholarship.
It didn't escape anyone's notice 3 years ago when Linda
put herself in the hands of Dr. Bill Anderson and
succeeded in losing 73 pounds. "He would get
me to sit in a chair and meditate," Linda recalls. She
still sticks to the no-snacking rule, restricts herself
to 800 calories a day, exercises at the YMCA three times
a week and takes her dog Murphy, a 5-year old Collie,
for brisk walks. Linda got him from Southeastern Guide
Dogs three years ago. "He didn't quite make the grade as
a guide dog", she remembers. "But he's a great
companion, and I love him dearly."
Linda has spent more than 44 years in the field of
television broadcasting, working as a weathercaster,
anchor, sports reporter, and consumer reporter. She
began her career in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, as
a weathercaster at the ABC affiliate. She spent 10 years
at that station and went on to become a reporter and
weekday anchor. Linda joined ABC 7 in 1995 from WTFX-TX
in Philadelphia, PA, where she worked as a freelance
weather anchor and Co-Host of the award winning show,
"Job Exchange", and Guest Host of the sports feature
"Eagles Day Live Show."
Memorable episodes in her career? "Definitely
my coverage of Coretta Scott King, the widow of slain
Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in
Atlanta during the nation-shattering moments following
his assassination. I was at WXIA-TV, getting ready to
anchor the 11 pm news on the night it happened; we
followed the Mayor to Coretta's house and waited outside
while he told her what had happened. We saw the world
change before our eyes when the leader of peaceful
change was gone, and riots broke out all around the
county."
Linda was present on October 25, 2006 when "Gainesville
Ripper" Danny Rolling was executed by lethal injection
in the Florida State Prison in Starke near Gainesville.
He had been convicted and sentenced to death for the
murder of five people in 1989/90. "His signature was to
arrange the bodies in such a way as to highlight the
carnage in the rooms, even including setting up several
mirrors and decapitating or posing his victims." Linda
interviewed Rolling on Death Row. "The most shocking
thing was that he appeared to be so nice and normal. He was funny and good
looking, and personable. I said to him, "Danny, you're a nice guy; if I ran
into you at the mall, I wouldn't be afraid of you. He replied: "You should
be - sometimes the nicest face you see can turn out to be the last face
you'll ever see." The story was about how to avoid becoming the victim of a
serial killer. Danny said he really wanted to help people, and he gave this
advice. "Lock your doors, get a dog, lights around your house, and one of
those clap-on, clap-off gadgets. If I make a noise trying to get in your
house and the lights go on, I'm out of there." He went on: "I don't have a
certain type of victim - my motto is easy is as easy gets." He also
confessed to raping several of his victims, committing an additional triple
homicide in 1989 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and attempting to murder his
father in May 1990. In all, Rolling confessed to killing eight people.
None of us will ever forget September 11, 2001. For Linda Carson, it's
especially poignant. As the local news team, Linda and her photographer were
in the second-grade classroom with President Bush when he learned of the
terrorist attacks. Linda remembers: "President Bush paused for a moment as
if to absorb the news, then headed for the Media Room where the national
media was already gathered, and spoke to the nation on live TV. As horrible
as those moments were, I felt a great pride and a great love for my country
and a determination that we would somehow get through this together."
Linda likes nothing better than to grab her cameraman Tom and travel through
the county meeting people, investigating new controversial topics and
reporting on current events. Every week she seeks out and previews the best
events for her very popular "Suncoast Scene" segment, which viewers can see
on Thursday evening and Friday morning. And every weekend she anchors the
ABC 7 newsroom at 6:30 and 11:00 pm with her pal, weather-lady Wendy Ross.
But Linda's utmost priority is her family, of course. Having just spent
Thanksgiving in Jacksonville with daughter Cathi, who works there for CBS47
WTEV, she'll soon pile Murphy into the car and enjoy Christmas in Atlanta
together with son Gary, daughter-in-law Nary, and her 15-week old
granddaughter Ariana Grace. She holds up a photo: "Isn't she beautiful?" she
beams. "She was born on August 21 and I was present at her birth!" And
there's that unmistakable smile again - that warm, charismatic smile that
has made Linda Carson one of Sarasota's most popular and loved
personalities.
If you'd like to write to Linda Carson, you can email her at
lcarson@mysuncoast.com. |
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