Dr. George, R.I.P.

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If you lived in Los Angeles in the seventies or eighties, you're probably saddened to hear, as I was, of the death of Dr. George Fischbeck, the longtime weatherman on KABC TV Channel 7. Dr. George, as everyone called him, was a former science teacher of 23 years who somehow became a TV weatherman in Albuquerque, New Mexico and then got discovered and relocated to Los Angeles in 1972. His style — energetic, stammering, often off-topic — was quite unlike the others on Eyewitness News. If he had any sort of script, he never read it. The anchorpersons would throw to him and he would lecture in a rapid, rambling manner about various things — often but not always weather-related — for however much time he was allotted. Usually but not always, he managed to include something about how hot or cold it would be tomorrow and whether or not it would rain.

By accident or intention, the local newscasts had their weatherfolks staggered. I could watch and enjoy Dr. George for his few minutes, then turn over to Kevin O'Connell on Channel 4 to find out what the weather would be like tomorrow. As someone oddly interested in this profession, I studied 'em all for a time. My conclusion was that Dr. George knew as much as any of them about the forecast but didn't even try to present it in an organized series of bullet points…which is not to say there wasn't much to learn from him. He sometimes delivered good, useful science lessons. He also did a lot to promote science in L.A. classrooms.

I met the man on several occasions. He was delightful and witty and funny and I always wished KABC would just give him an hour every Sunday to explain science on, say, a junior high school level. He never stopped being a teacher and in the odd venues he found on television, he was a darned good one. The "Dr." was an honorary degree but he sure deserved it. His passing at the age of 92 was announced this morning.