Page 26 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2015

COASTNOTES
A CONVERSATION WITH
JEFF LAWSON
story by Lynn Lofton photos by Lori Beth Susman and courtesy of WLOX TV
Jeff Lawson, a familiar and trusted face at WLOX TV, has stepped away from the cameras after 27 years as a newscaster. He spent a total of 39 years in the broadcast industry after graduating with a journalism degree from Westminster College in Pennsylvania. His childhood and high school days were spent in a suburb of Pittsburgh.
When he was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsey last year at age 61, Lawson was told the condition, which left him with no movement on the
right side of his face, usually goes away. Various treatments have not made that happen although he says it’s better than it was a year ago. Regrettably, his career in broadcast journalism is over for now. In the meantime, he and his wife of 23 years, Alice, are doing some traveling.
With his usual good grace and easy going charm, Lawson consented to answer some questions to give SML readers some insight into his life.
Q: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I wanted to be a baseball player for my hometown team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, but I was lacking in baseball talent.
Q: When did you make the decision to become a broadcast journalist?
A: One of my best buddies, someone I grew up with, influenced
me. We were heading off to college and he said he was majoring in journalism. That sounded like something good to do.
Q: Why did you choose broadcast journalism?
A: In one of my classes, everyone was asked to make a 30-second voice commercial. I did mine and the guy recording it asked where I got my experience. I didn’t have any experience and he thought I did. So I guess I had the right voice for broadcast.
Q: What series of events brought you to the Mississippi Gulf Coast? A: A friend was doing some consulting with television stations, including WLOX. He was impressed with the professionalism and
how well run the family-owned station was. He suggested I look into it. Believe it or not, I had always wanted to live in the South. I had worked for a lot of stations in several states — all in the South — and I was hoping to put down roots somewhere.
Q: What did you enjoy most about your years at WLOX?
A: It was the segments I did on veterans. My dad was in World War II and I have great respect for veterans of all wars. I went on five of the seven Honor Flights with the World War II veterans, and I did a lot of sit-down interviews with them. It was the neatest thing to tell those stories to thousands watching the broadcasts.
Q: Is there anything you would like to say to those who’ve followed your career?
A: I am so grateful to so many people who’ve kept me in their thoughts and prayers. I didn’t want to end my career this way, but compared to what so many people go through with health issues, mine is small potatoes. I have always admired those who battle illnesses. Also, I really miss the people I worked with — they’re my extended family — and reporting the stories of local residents.
26 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • September 2015 FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net