Jack Parris was the Vice President and General Manager at KGUN from 1983 to the end of 1987.
At the time, the newsroom was going through some tumultuous times. Anchors were coming and going.
"We found this guy in Tulsa by the name of Guy Atchley, and he was terrific. We decided to bring him in, and I remember we were at the airport waiting for Guy to come. We see this grey hair coming down the causeway there, and I said boy he looks really good. Boy, I hope he takes the job. I hope he stays for a while. And he stayed and stayed and stayed. But he's gonna retire now well deserved," said Jack.
As Guy Atchley said, "well I told you I had been in a different city every year for five years and I'd had enough of traveling. I felt like Tucson was the right size for me and I told you, you hire me, and I'll stay."
Jack continued by saying, "I'm very proud of my sons who've gone into broadcasting one way or another. I have a couple of engineers, producer/director, but my youngest son Patrick decided to come back to Tucson and to toil away in the early morning hours until Guy Atchley retired. So Guy is gonna retire, and Pat is gonna move into that chair."
Think about it, full circle.
"First time when we talked about this you said full circle, and it really has been full circle," said Pat Parris.
"Well, from my perspective I knew he hired you, being away in college, I would check in, I would come back and see you on the air and I always said I want to start off in that sports route, but I always think about KGUN, and I always think about you and the job you do, and I always said, if not out loud it was probably in my own mind, I want to be Guy Atchley someday and I want to take that job over. Someday you'd retire and eventually you did," continued Pat.
What are the chances of something like that happening?
As Guy told Jack, "can you imagine the chances of something like this happening? You hiring me and then 34 years later, you come in."
