Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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From the field to the anchor desk, Bruce Lindsay has a lot of television experience in his 38-year career. And being on live TV can be, let's say, very unpredictable.
"He was poised at ABC — as far as I know — maybe for something famous. But he wanted to come back home," recalled Dick Nourse, retired KSL anchor and Bruce's former colleague.
So, Bruce returned to Salt Lake and KSL in 1978.
"In those late '70s, the big team was (Dick) Nourse, (Bob) Welti and (Paul) James. They were triumphant and ruled the news," former KSL reporter Shelley Osterlough recalled. "And it was really a change in trend here, to have someone come in and co-anchor the news. And Bruce Lindsay was that guy."
"It was a pretty heady experience to say that it would be 'Nourse, Welti, James and Lindsay' at 10:00, because I had looked up to these people for a long time," Bruce said.
"When I was hired to come and be Dick Nourse's first co-anchor, the attorney who looked at my contract said, 'This may not be a good idea. (Nourse) is a man who, you know, is pretty sure of himself. He's not gonna want this upstart kid sharing his scripts,'" Bruce recalled.
But Bruce said from the word "go," Nourse was "nothing but supportive, and encouraging, and helpful. I could not have asked more help and mentoring."
"It was a real family, and a real friendship; nothing phony about it at all," Nourse said.
Many other of Bruce's colleagues over the years also have plenty of praise for him.
"Bruce is serious when it comes to his craft," former KSL news anchor Ruth Todd said.
"He's a terrific broadcaster, and he does it all effortlessly," said Jayne Clayson, also a former KSL news anchor.
"It looks so easy, but it's hard," Clayson continued, "and Bruce is so good at it."
"Bruce Lindsay is the best when it comes to 'going with the flow,'" Osterlough said. "Live television is very demanding and very unpredictable."
"There was no hesitation ever to stick a microphone on Bruce, no matter what the situation was, without a script, and say, 'This is all we know. Go. We're on the air,'" said Spence Kinard, former KSL news director.
Kinard cited a 1985 earthquake in California as an example of Bruce's coolness under presser.
"We were handing him stuff, and he was going without a teleprompter and covering this thing," Kindard said. "We got calls from people that were in San Fransisco, didn't know what was going on; they were talking to their family in Salt Lake City that was watching Bruce Lindsay on KSL, getting more information than (their family members) were getting in San Fransisico."
There were also some interesting experiences with high profile guests. One such experience happened with the musician Harry Nielsen appeared on Primetime Access, a show Bruce hosted.
"Harry Nielsen came on the set drunk out of his mind," Bruce recalled. "In the commercial break he said, 'Now tell me your names again?' And he wrote our names on the palm of his hand and then went to the bathroom, and then came back and said, 'I washed my hand, what's your name again?'"
There have been lots of fun stories over the years, but Bruce's long career will come to an end Wednesday night on KSL 5 News at 10. Join us for the goodbyes.
