[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 111 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)] [Senate] [Pages S8515-S8516] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] TRIBUTE TO DAVE NAKDIMEN Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Dave Nakdimen, an outstanding newsman, who retired after a wonderful career in television news. Dave served the Louisville area for 36 years on WAVE television news. Dave was born in London, KY, and became interested in journalism by listening to the radio at an early age. After years of listening to political news and election-night returns, Dave decided to study journalism at the University of Kentucky. After graduation in 1955, he took a job as a sports writer with the Lexington Leader. While working in Lexington, he met his future wife, Wanda, who was moving to Louisville to take a job at a local hospital. After they became engaged, they packed their bags and headed to Louisville, where Dave landed a job at WAVE-TV. The rest is history. WAVE was his first job in broadcast media. Dave was assigned to cover city hall, and there he met and interviewed some of the most important men and women in the last half of this century. Dave covered the civil rights movement of the 1960's, where he interviewed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during an open-housing march. He also interviewed Ronald Reagan, George Bush, David Brinkley, John Wayne, and countless other memorable personalities. Dave won't be resting during his retirement, though; he's returning to WAVE-TV after a brief vacation to produce weekly commentaries for the station's 6 o'clock newscasts. When asked by the the Courier- Journal if he would repeat his experience in journalism, Mr. Nakdimen responded: ``I think so. I really enjoyed it. It was a lot of hard work, but it was a lot of fun, too.'' Dave's colleagues also remember him fondly. Kathy Beck, the news director at WAVE-TV, said Dave is ``a man of great integrity'' throughout the news world. All those who know Dave know that he gives his endeavors his all. He is a deacon at his church, and he shows intense faithfulness in supporting his beloved University of Kentucky Wildcat [[Page S8516]] basketball team. Dave's retirement means he will be able to do more of the things he loves, including spending time with his wife, Wanda, and his daughter, Suzanne. Mr. President, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in paying tribute to the career of Dave Nakdimen. It surely has been a memorable one. Mr. President, in the world of television news it is extremely difficult to develop expertise in covering politics. Most of the political reporters that we deal with who are really talented in covering what the occupant of the Chair and myself do everyday tend to be in print journalism. There is one real exception to that: Dave Nakdimen. Dave was the only expert political reporter I ever met in local television. He had a distinguished career. We will all miss him greatly. He is a man of great principle, a personal friend. I remember meeting him when I was in my twenties sitting in the office of a local official in Jefferson County, that is, Louisville, KY. He was doing his job then. He is a superb individual, a fine man with deep religious convictions who will be missed in the reporting of political news in my hometown. Mr. President, I wish Dave Nakdimen well in his retirement years. I ask unanimous consent that an article from The Courier-Journal be printed in the Congressional Record. There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From the Louisville Courier-Journal, July 11, 1997] WAVE's Nakdimen Is Retiring After 3 Decades (By Tom Dorsey) Today is the last day on the job for WAVE reporter Dave Nakdimen after 36 years. ``I plopped down here in 1961 and have been in the same spot ever since,'' said Nakdimen. The soft-spoken journalist with the dry sense of humor has been a fixture on the local TV scene. ``He's a wonderful guy and clever writer,'' said WAVE colleague Jackie Hays. ``If I had a question on anything--but especially politics--I knew he'd know the answer.'' Nekdimen, 64, probably holds the record for the most years as a TV reporter in Louisville. He remembers covering political races in which candidates ran as segregationist. He recalls interviewing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during an open-housing march in the '60s. After the interview Nakdimen discovered that the sound system wasn't working. ``So when King came around the block again, we asked him if he'd do the interview over and he was nice enough to do it.'' On another day Nakdimen was assigned to do one of those worst-intersection-in-town stories. ``As I was standing there shooting the film, an accident happened right in front of me that perfectly illustrated the traffic problem,'' Nakdimen said. ``I ran back to the station knowing what a great story I had, opened the camera and found there was no film in it.'' Most days went better than that for the man who was born in St. Charles, Va. He grew up in London, Ky., listening to election-night returns and political conventions on radio. That's what got him interested in the news. When he graduated from London High School, he went on to study journalism at the University of Kentucky, where he graduated in 1955. His first job was writing sports for the Lexington Leader, the former afternoon newspaper. He almost connected with a job at The Courier-Journal. Along the way he became engaged to his future wife, Wanda. She was a nurse who was taking a job in Louisville, so he found one here too. ``WAVE (radio and TV) was looking for somebody to cover City Hall,'' he said. ``I had never worked a day on radio or TV in my life, but I decided to take a shot at it.'' The rest is history--36 years of it on the job and in the marriage. The first two weeks on the job, he met David Brinkley and Ronald Reagan. ``It was fun to talk with John Wayne, sit down with George Bush or chase Hubert Humphrey around,'' he said. But there were other stories, too, many of them tragic. ``I think the Standard Gravure (1989 shootings) stands out in my mind as the story I will never forget.'' The 1974 tornado that ravaged large parts of Louisville is a close second. What's changed the most about TV news? ``Oh, it's the technology without a doubt,'' Nakdimen said. When he began working at WAVE, stories were covered with a Polaroid camera. Film came along a few years later, but it was grainy black and white. ``Color followed, then small, live cameras and satellites and now digital television is on the way,'' Nakdimen said. ``There's so much production to a TV newscast today, especially with the emphasis on live coverage.'' It's a far cry from the news he saw as a boy in London. Nakdimen Remembers NBC's John Cameron Swayze and CBS' Douglas Edwards doing 15-minute nightly newscasts in television's early days. ``They just sat in front of a camera and read the news; it was pretty much radio on TV,'' he said. In many ways the last 36 years has zipped by like a tape on fast-forward. But Nakdimen won't be leaving it all behind. ``I'll still be doing a once-a-week commentary for WAVE and some political and election analysis to keep my hand in,'' he said. Would Nakdimen do those 36 years over again? ``I think so. I really enjoyed it. It was a lot of hard work, but it was a lot of fun too.'' Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________