Ron Stone, Doug Johnson: A Look Back
News2Houston Celebrates Reunion
POSTED: 12:31 pm CDT May 22,
2002
UPDATED: 12:20 pm CDT May 23,
2002
HOUSTON -- News2Houston enjoyed a special reunion Wednesday on News2Houston Nightbeat.
Former news anchorman Ron Stone and former weather forecaster Doug Johnson came back from retirement for one night only.
Linda Lorelle was there when Stone passed the anchor baton in 1992."It was great. It was wonderful. Now I'm doing something else," Stone said.The "something else" is Stone Films, an award-winning video production firm.But his present office is studded with past assignments.Stone's memory is our history."I think being at the Berlin wall when it fell -- I can still smell it. I can still feel it and I'll never forget that as long as I live," Stone said. "One of the great thrills of my life -- to be standing there and seeing that great panorama in front of me."Stone still makes public appearances in front of mesmerized Houstonians -- viewers who remember him as well today as the day he retired a decade ago."In my retirement speech, I said, 'I feel like I've gone through my life on a scholarship.' I didn't have to work for any of this stuff and it's been wonderful," Stone said.
He kept his eyes on the sky for more than three decades on Channel 2."No one ever comes up and says, 'Boy, things were much greater when you and Ron were on the air.' But they do say one touching, lovely thing. And that is, 'We miss you,'" Johnson said.During Johnson's 33 years at KPRC, he covered the best and worst of Mother Nature.He predicted Hurricane Alicia in 1983."So I don't recall having made any mistakes over those 33 years. Oh there was one. I went on the air one night and said, 'We're having some false echoes from the north side of town up near Montgomery County. No rain is in the forecast,'" Johnson said.The old radar could not tell the difference between real rain and false echoes.That broadcast precipitated a flood of phone calls pouring into the station. But even the great weatherman himself could not have predicted the response of one viewer."(She) wrote me a letter, with a picture of (her) back yard inundated and said, 'This is what three-and-a-half inches of false echoes looks like, if you wanted to see it,'" Johnson said.
His forecasts were sometimes unpredictable, like the guest appearance of "Wilma the Weather Chicken."In the mid-'70s, the fowl forecast helped the "Scene At 5" take a bite out of the ratings."In the good old days, if we can use (funny) terms, you could joke around and make some pretty monumental mistakes and get away with it," Johnson said.He couldn't change Houston's weather, though Johnson somehow made the forecast seem a bit brighter."That humidity is actually good for your skin. (It) keeps you looking younger. So all in all, this is a great place to be in the summertime," Johnson reported on the air.But when it reached the mid-90s, Johnson decided it was time for a climate change. He retired."I love gardening and reading, and one of these days, I might take up painting and quilting. I don't know," Johnson said.
Copyright 2007 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Ron Stone
Ron Stone brought the world into Houston living rooms for decades as an anchorman at KPRC TV, Channel 2.But he wasn't always behind the desk. News assignments took him to the Middle East, but he always longed for the old West.Stone, the man who put the "vision" in television actually started in radio.The Texas historian was raised in Oklahoma. But while chronicling Texas history, Stone became part of it."I meet people all the time who've said, 'I've grown up with you,' and literally they have. It's disconcerting when somebody 80 years old tells you that," Stone said.When Stone started with KPRC in 1972, viewers could not change the station without first getting up off the sofa and physically turning the dial. Because the chances of changing the channel were remote, Ron and his colleagues could spend more time telling the story."And because some idiot invented a clicker, you've got to be really good for about two minutes, or they're going to leave you. And it takes about two minutes to get warmed up, you see, so I couldn't do that anymore," Stone said.Bill Balleza helped celebrate Stone's 20 years on Houston television. That was 20 years ago.Linda Lorelle was there when Stone passed the anchor baton in 1992."It was great. It was wonderful. Now I'm doing something else," Stone said.The "something else" is Stone Films, an award-winning video production firm.But his present office is studded with past assignments.Stone's memory is our history."I think being at the Berlin wall when it fell -- I can still smell it. I can still feel it and I'll never forget that as long as I live," Stone said. "One of the great thrills of my life -- to be standing there and seeing that great panorama in front of me."Stone still makes public appearances in front of mesmerized Houstonians -- viewers who remember him as well today as the day he retired a decade ago."In my retirement speech, I said, 'I feel like I've gone through my life on a scholarship.' I didn't have to work for any of this stuff and it's been wonderful," Stone said.Doug Johnson
Doug Johnson took Houston by storm.He kept his eyes on the sky for more than three decades on Channel 2."No one ever comes up and says, 'Boy, things were much greater when you and Ron were on the air.' But they do say one touching, lovely thing. And that is, 'We miss you,'" Johnson said.During Johnson's 33 years at KPRC, he covered the best and worst of Mother Nature.He predicted Hurricane Alicia in 1983."So I don't recall having made any mistakes over those 33 years. Oh there was one. I went on the air one night and said, 'We're having some false echoes from the north side of town up near Montgomery County. No rain is in the forecast,'" Johnson said.The old radar could not tell the difference between real rain and false echoes.That broadcast precipitated a flood of phone calls pouring into the station. But even the great weatherman himself could not have predicted the response of one viewer."(She) wrote me a letter, with a picture of (her) back yard inundated and said, 'This is what three-and-a-half inches of false echoes looks like, if you wanted to see it,'" Johnson said.His forecasts were sometimes unpredictable, like the guest appearance of "Wilma the Weather Chicken."In the mid-'70s, the fowl forecast helped the "Scene At 5" take a bite out of the ratings."In the good old days, if we can use (funny) terms, you could joke around and make some pretty monumental mistakes and get away with it," Johnson said.He couldn't change Houston's weather, though Johnson somehow made the forecast seem a bit brighter."That humidity is actually good for your skin. (It) keeps you looking younger. So all in all, this is a great place to be in the summertime," Johnson reported on the air.But when it reached the mid-90s, Johnson decided it was time for a climate change. He retired."I love gardening and reading, and one of these days, I might take up painting and quilting. I don't know," Johnson said. Copyright 2007 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
