Dick Chapman, veteran newscaster with WCCO from 1957 until his retirement in 1993, died February 27 in St. Michael, MN at age 84.
Chapman and Charlie Boone "invented a new way to use radio," said then-WCCO manager Rob Brown, the evening of May 6,1965, when the Twin Cities were struck by a cluster of tornadoes. At a time long before today's sophisticated radar, Chapman and Boone worked six hours non-stop on air, taking phone calls from listeners, triangulating the paths of the funnel clouds, and issuing warnings. The local weather bureau credited them with saving 2,000 lives that night.
Later, Chapman authored a book of reminiscences, "When 'CCO Was Cookin'," with some of the proceeds earmarked for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, to help fight the disease from which he suffered.
Chapman and Charlie Boone "invented a new way to use radio," said then-WCCO manager Rob Brown, the evening of May 6,1965, when the Twin Cities were struck by a cluster of tornadoes. At a time long before today's sophisticated radar, Chapman and Boone worked six hours non-stop on air, taking phone calls from listeners, triangulating the paths of the funnel clouds, and issuing warnings. The local weather bureau credited them with saving 2,000 lives that night.
Later, Chapman authored a book of reminiscences, "When 'CCO Was Cookin'," with some of the proceeds earmarked for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, to help fight the disease from which he suffered.