How do you replace someone who’s been at KSAT for 44 years?
You don’t. You just say, “Thank You.”
Dale Keller and I go way back. He was here the first day I started, and he still remembers the first day he started as an intern as what he calls a “punk kid.”
He was later offered a full-time position. And he was off, traveling across the country and Mexico, covering news and sports for KSAT. Keller even went to Rome to do stories leading up to Pope John Paul IV’s visit to San Antonio. Keller has covered some significant events in his five decades with KSAT.
His work as a photojournalist has earned him awards and accolades. He’s covered political conventions, Spurs Championships and numerous investigative stories. He has witnessed history through the lens of a KSAT camera. Dale and I have also become friends and seen each other work in some of the most intense and most unbelievable moments. I was curious about what stories he remembers most.
“You know, I knew that question was going to come up, and I don’t know that I have one. People stories have always been my favorite, going out and doing stories where we go into people’s homes and learn about their lives, issues they are having, problems or trying to help solve their issues,” Keller said. “You and I did two of the homeless specials. And just getting to know those people. Before that, you know, you’d drive by, see people on the street and had a different opinion. But then, once we dived into it and got on the streets with them, we learned that they have personalities. They have their own story to tell. I mean, many times we do stories, and it’s the day-of story of the day, and it goes away, but that (story), we actually woke up some people with power in this town, who actually, they were able to make that difference. We planted that seed in with them and got it going.”
Making a difference is what any journalist strives to do, and indeed, I believe the reporting that Dale Keller and I did on the homeless situation in San Antonio had an impact.
The then-chairman and CEO of Valero Energy saw the special, called then-Mayor Phil Hardberger, and teamed up with former San Antonio City Councilwoman Patti Radle to provide a 24-hour homeless shelter in San Antonio, which led to Haven For Hope.
Dale and I worked together at the Republican and Democratic Conventions in 2016, helping people through stories and even putting together another homeless special a few years ago.
Dale puts his heart and soul into his work, and it’s evident in the final product.
“Being in the business so long, you’re thankful for all the people that come and go in your lives. I mean, some for very bad circumstances, some for very good. But all of them made an impact on you. I mean, there (are) too many times we’ve seen the worst in society. We’ve also been able to see the best, which is not every job you can say you get to do that,” Keller said.
He also has no intention of retiring the camera. After he leaves KSAT, freelancing is in his future.
The work goes on, just in a different way — not the deadlines and crazy hours that newsrooms demand, but on his own schedule, which, after 44 years, he richly deserves.
“I just want to thank this station for bringing in this punk teenage kid and giving him an opportunity. And again, thank all the people that come in and out of my life doing this job because there’s no other job where you get to see history being made.”
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