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SALT LAKE CITY -- Sometimes the news we cover hits close to home. That happened Thursday night when we learned that Gaylen Young, the father of KSL photographer James Young, was killed in a car accident in Santaquin.
Longtime viewers of KSL-TV will no doubt remember Young Young. He was a reporter and anchor in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. He continued his career in California after leaving KSL.
Young was the kind of reporter that every TV newsroom would love to have -- energetic, quick thinking, always with an idea. Whether it was a crime story, a political story or a feature, he could do it.
"Everybody liked Gaylen. He was a fun guy and energetic guy," said Spence Kinard, former KSL-TV news director. "There wasn't an angle that he didn't want to turn over and look at."
Kinard hired Young to work as KSL's Ogden Bureau Chief as well as to anchor the noon news. In 1981 Young left KSL for the then-upstart network CNN as the Los Angeles correspondent. He then made his mark in Bakersfield, where he anchored and reported for nearly 30 years. He won an Emmy award for his coverage of the Gulf War in 1991.
Though always a hard worker Young could always laugh at himself, whether forgetting to put on his mic as he ran onto the set at the last second or every anchorman's nightmare: trying to figure out which camera to look at.
Young had moved back to Utah two years ago and ran a media production and consulting company. He also continued writing columns for various business publications.
In Bakersfield Friday, many of his longtime friends and colleagues called Young a man of principle and integrity, a straight shooter who wanted to do things right.
That sentiment is echoed at KSL, too.
"He just did a lot of interesting things," Kinard said. "He was the kind of guy that he would always be busy and enjoying life."
Email: kmccord@ksl.com
