I’m in New Haven on a reporting trip today, so I’m not going to write as much about this as I should. But I want to take note of John Henning’s death at the age of 73. What a class act. Henning was never too busy to help younger colleagues, including a certain media reporter for an alternative weekly.
Henning was a key part of the golden age of television news in Boston, and he will be greatly missed. Here is a tribute from WBZ-TV (Channel 4), where he was the longtime political reporter.
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in this era of interchangeable, cookie-cutter anchors, it makes you realize that it’s truly the passing of an era.
John was a superb journalist and great to work with. I had the honor of being interviewed many times by John. What a pro he was. Always penetrating questions and respect for politics. And calm about everything. As has been repeatedly stated, he was a TALL guy. I am a short guy. Part of the fun of working with John was how he and his videographers would set the shot. We had the “Tobe bench” in front of the COM building at BU where we would sit to reduce the problem of tall John and short Tobe. There is also a classroom at COM with a series of levels. I’d get to stand on a higher level so that John only towered over me (both physically and intellectually).
I remember back in the late eighties, when Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial candidates kept falling by the wayside, talkshow host Jerry Williams (though unfamiliar with Henning’s politics) touting John Henning for governor.
I’ll bet he could have won.