A former local television news anchor, reporter and writer, Richard Speer worked at network affiliates including WESH-TV and WFTV (Orlando), WJTV (Jackson, Miss.), and KFSM-TV (Fayetteville/Fort Smith, Ark.). He has written for Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, ARTnews and Opera News, and is the author of "Matt Lamb: The Art of Success" (Wiley, 2005).
As network execs opt for the dude next door -- anchorman versions of Ashton Kutcher -- the loss of the suave, Cary Grant-style ABC icon will leave us all the poorer.
