THE NEWSROOM'S MISTER PATRIOT
“This’ll show the damned gooks they can’t frig around with Uncle Sam!” That was Jerry Finnerty’s reaction to President Johnson’s decision to send naval aircraft to bomb “selected targets” in North Vietnam. The decision came after reports that North Vietnamese PT boats had fired on American destroyers patrolling international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Jerry Finnerty was from the old school, probably ten years older than Buzz. He’d been Buzz’s predecessor as Baker Broadcasting’s television news director. Jerry would probably still have that job, Buzz well knew, and he himself would still be handling radio news only, if it hadn’t been for Jerry’s recurring fondness for the bottle. As anchorman for the six-thirty news, he was still the face of Baker Broadcasting for most of the general public.
Jerry’s face was still handsome — in a careworn sort of way. His head of wavy once-coal-black hair had turned steel gray, but every strand was immaculately in place when he got the hand signal that he was on the air, and without a drop of hair spray. He had been a lady killer for sure in his bachelor days and — despite two divorces — still fancied himself as the deity’s gift to women.
The name on his birth certificate was Fintrilakis. It became Finnerty after an early employer had pointed out that there were more Irish-American TV viewers in most Massachusetts cities than Greek-American viewers. Riverbridge was no exception.
Jerry had a self-deprecating sense of humor. A favorite was. “Goddammit, Buzz” — or H.B. or Al or whoever he felt was asking for uncalled-for effort — “my name is Jerry, not Jesus!” And he had a salty collection of phrases — “as welcome as a whore in church,” “cold as a witch’s underwear,” “as unusual as a virgin Miss America” — which station management crossed its fingers would never get uttered on an open mike.
Despite a general disdain for politicians, Jerry was the news operation’s Mister Patriot. In his eyes, Uncle Sam and Uncle Sam’s military could do no wrong.
COPYRIGHT 2012 DURHAM CALDWELL
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