Fitzgerald: a storyteller for the ages

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January 31, 2010

By Fredie Carmichael / Executive Editor The Meridian Star The Meridian Star Sun Jan 31, 2010, 08:00 AM CST

MERIDIAN — Carl Fitzgerald was one of those people you knew you'd never forget within minutes of knowing him.

    Some people are content to just pass the time; Carl could never be accused of that. He was always going and doing — even in his final years.

    Carl was one of the best storytellers I've ever known. And boy did he love to tell them.

    I first met Carl back in 1997 as I worked at Mike Glass's Southern Gospel radio station, WMER-1390 A.M. Back then, I worked the board part-time on the weekends. Carl's "Remember When" radio program was one of the shows I worked. He and Thelma always arrived early, a good half-hour before the show began. He would be mid-sentence before he even got through the front door.

    "How's your dad, momma and family," Carl always asked first.

    Then, he'd go right into show prep. He'd break out his box of tapes and his list of the show's itinerary. He'd have all his interviews lined up; he carried a hand-held tape player to cue his tapes.

    In short, he was prepared. Once he had the line-up, he'd start telling me the personal stories behind the interviews, some he'd done 20 years before I was born. He'd tell about the personalities, the talent and "the way things used to be in Meridian."

    Usually about five minutes before airtime, he'd always get a little anxious.

    "Thelma where’s that tape?

    "Thelma, where'd you put my list of sponsors?"

    That was common right before we went live. But once we were on, we were cooking. Carl never missed a beat. His stories were captivating. I could listen for hours.

    And he'd do live commercials. I can still hear the one he did for Red Hot Cafe. My stomach would start growling about the time he'd describe the food in detail.

    He had a way with words, a way to connect with the audience. Everything he said, you could see. He was the best at painting a picture and making you feel as though you were there, too.

    More than his stories, Carl was a kind-hearted man. He genuinely loved people ... and people loved him. Years later as a budding scribe at The Meridian Star, I was assigned to work on a story about the closing of Weidmann's Restaurant. As soon as I got the assignment, I knew it had the potential to be a great story. It had everything a feature writer could want — history, nostalgia, and details.

    The first phone call I made was to Carl Fitzgerald. I knew he'd know everything about the place. He was a historian. If he didn't know something, he sure did a good job of making you think he did. When I told him what I was working on, Carl's voice became excited. I didn't think I would be able to get him off the phone. But as soon as we got off the phone, he went to work. He found old photographs and he went through some old notes and interviews. As we met up a few hours later, he filled my head with countless anecdotes.

    After a few days of working on the story, which I was told would be a Sunday feature, I sat at my desk with a head full of knowledge and a lap full of notes. I had a mild case of writer's block. I wasn't sure how to start the story.

    As I began to type, one of Carl's stories — one about Henry Weidmann opening up the kitchen late one night for a few Air Force pilots — stuck in my head.

    "That's the type of man he was ... and that's why the restaurant was so successful," Carl had told me.

    I decided to use his anecdote to lead off my 1,200-word feature story.

    It was my first Sunday feature and I thought I was pretty fortunate to have someone like Carl help me.

    If there was one thing I learned from Carl, it was how to tell a story. He didn't just tell it, he lived it. He got involved in the story. He was passionate about it. They weren't just stories to him; he was communicating history.

    This past week when I got the late-night text message that Carl had passed, at first I was sad ... but then I smiled.

    I thought about ole Carl chatting up Saint Peter before he could even get through the front gates.

    Fredie Carmichael is executive editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at fcarmichael@themeridianstar.com.

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