{"id":16341,"date":"2017-12-20T11:30:15","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T17:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=16341"},"modified":"2017-12-20T11:36:23","modified_gmt":"2017-12-20T17:36:23","slug":"weather-alert-abc-7s-jerry-taft-retire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2017\/12\/20\/weather-alert-abc-7s-jerry-taft-retire\/","title":{"rendered":"Weather alert: ABC 7\u2019s Jerry Taft to retire"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Jerry Taft<\/p><\/div>\n

Jerry Taft, who\u2019s been a trusted and engaging presence in front of Chicago weather maps for more than 40 years, is retiring as chief meteorologist at top-rated WLS-Channel 7, <\/a>the ABC-owned station announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I still have my health, wit and vitality it\u2019s time to hang out with my real family, assuming they still remember me,\u201d Taft, 74, told colleagues in an email. \u201cAnd I also need to hit the golf course while I still have a single digit handicap.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll make his final appearance on ABC 7 January 19.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Graves, vice president and news director of ABC 7, said in a statement: \u201cJerry Taft won the trust of our viewers with his knowledge and experience forecasting Chicago\u2019s weather. He won the affection of our viewers with his self-effacing sense of humor, infectious laugh and relatability. That combination has made him one of Chicago\u2019s most respected and popular meteorologists for the past four decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us at ABC 7, along with his many fans, will miss Jerry.\u00a0 We thank him and wish him nothing but sunny skies and a continued low handicap on the golf course,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jerry Taft (1979)<\/p><\/div>\n

Taft\u2019s interest in weather began in the U.S. Air Force, which he joined as a 19-year-old radar technician. He eventually became a combat pilot, spent a year in Vietnam, taught aviation and flight planning, and earned a degree in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin in 1969.<\/p>\n

From his first on-air job at KMOL, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio, Texas, Taft joined NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5 <\/a>in 1977. Seven years later he moved to ABC 7.<\/p>\n

In 2005 he was inducted in the Silver Circle of the Chicago\/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n

Long a fixture on ABC 7\u2019s 10 p.m. weekday newscast, Taft reduced his schedule<\/a> last year to the station\u2019s 6 p.m. newscast and Weigel Broadcasting WCIU-Channel 26\u2019s <\/a>7 p.m. newscast, which is produced by ABC 7.<\/p>\n

No successor has been announced, but meteorologists Cheryl Scott and Larry Mowry are expected to pick up where Taft leaves off.<\/p>\n

Taft is the third longtime TV weatherman to announce his retirement in recent weeks, following Steve Baskerville of CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 and Jim Ramsey of Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9.<\/p>\n

Here is the text of Taft\u2019s email to colleagues:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey everybody,<\/em><\/p>\n

It has been a great run, but all good things eventually come to an end. So my last day will be January 19th. However I have to admit that when I left the Air Force I could never imagine... 42 years on Chicago television and 34 years on ABC 7 Chicago.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a joy walking into ABC7 everyday knowing that it\u2019s not work, but being with my extended family. When I first arrived here we had elevator operators. The newsroom was full of smoke and the hum of IBM Selectric typewriters. No computers. The scripts went to the set in pneumatic tubes. 35mm film was being spliced together for air and weather was presented on maps drawn by the art department. We have come a long way and I\u2019ve been here the whole time. Amazing.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

While I still have my health, wit and vitality it\u2019s time to hang out with my real family, assuming they still remember me. And I also need to hit the golf course while I still have a single digit handicap. I want to thank everyone for their love and support and wish all a happy holiday.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Jerry<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is the text of Graves\u2019s memo to staff:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those of you in the news department have probably already seen Jerry Taft\u2019s memo announcing that he\u2019s winding down his time here at ABC 7.\u00a0 Jerry\u2019s last day on the air will be Friday, January 19, 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t say enough about Jerry\u2019s contributions to our station over the past three decades.\u00a0 He\u2019s earned the trust and respect of our viewers with his forecasting skills.\u00a0 And he\u2019s won a spot in their hearts with his one-of-a-kind personality. Then there\u2019s his laugh; what more can I say about that! He\u2019s a true communicator who has become part of our viewers\u2019 lives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jerry wanted today\u2019s announcement to be low-key.\u00a0You can read more about his career in the attached release and for those of you who didn\u2019t receive Jerry\u2019s email, the text is below.\u00a0And please enjoy the photos that are attached.<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll celebrate Jerry\u2019s career in the new year, Jerry-style.<\/em><\/p>\n

For now, let\u2019s all wish Jerry the best and congratulate him on a job well-done!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

ABC 7 meteorologists Larry Mowry, Cheryl Scott, Jerry Taft, Tracy Butler and Phil Schwartz<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jerry Taft, who\u2019s been a trusted and engaging presence in front of Chicago weather maps for more than 40 years, is retiring as chief meteorologist at top-rated WLS-Channel 7, the ABC-owned station announced Wednesday. \u201cWhile I still have my health, wit and vitality it\u2019s time to hang out with my real family, assuming they still... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16341"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16347,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16341\/revisions\/16347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}