July 21, 2007
Pete Wilson, Local Anchor And Radio Personality
We just heard on KGO newstalk 810 that Pete Wilson, the local channel 7 news anchor and afternoon radio talk show host, died last night from complications in what was thought to be a routine surgery (hip replacement). According to what we just heard, he suffered a heart attack during the operation, was put on life support, and last night was taken off. There's a corroborating article on KGO's site, here. Another's here on ABC's site (thanks tipster).
He was 62.
We're sure you'll hear a lot more about Wilson on the local TV and radio stations over the next few days--the multiple awards, occasional controversies, and the many friends and admirers he garnered during his decades in broadcast journalism. For our part, we enjoyed his TV work, and particularly enjoyed his talk radio show, which we listened to semi-regularly for a while (when our schedule used to allow for it).
Image of Wilson from KGO's site
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Whoa.
A terrible loss.
This saddened me more than I expected it would. I grew up watching Pete Wilson, and I watched him on the news just a few days ago.
Wow. How sad. My condolences to his family and his colleagues.
KGO 810 has a clip of his last monologue. He was really anxious about this surgery. I found it almost too difficult to finish the clip.
I couldn't pay attention to any of the news that came out of Pete's mouth because of that weird peace sign that formed at the intersection of his eyebrows and the top of his nose and, of course, I had a problem with those ridiculous anti-gay comments. Yeah, right, a terrible loss...
I'm not sure if Kent Brockman was imitating Pete Wilson or vice versa. There was almost no difference between Kent's "My Two Cents" and Pete's "Circular File..."
Since the advent of internet news, I haven't missed Pete one iota.
For some reason, I am pretty sad about this. I was angry about his anti family comments, but he was a face in my living room every day, and to die suddenly like that is just sad. My mother is soon to get a hip replacement, so it hit home a little...Condolences to family and friends...
I would have never wished him dead, but I'm happy he's off the air.
I interned at KGO and heard a lot of weird out-of-touch crap come out of his mouth when the red light was off. I wouldn't have been bothered if it was some random old man at a barber shop, but Pete had too much access to powerful telecommunications tools.
Sorry he died, but...
i'm shocked and bummed to hear that pw died. he was a bay area news icon, one that was interesting in spite of the fact that bay area journalism mostly sucks. i expect that his replacement will be worse.
RIP Pete Wilson. Great sense of humor.
How could you die of a heart attack while under the direct supervision of doctors and nurses and already in the hospital?
If any place was the best place to have a heart attack, wouldn't it be there?
I just don't understand. Can someone fill me in?
#10, people die. Even in hospitals.
Heart attacks vary in intensity. Sometimes people live thru them and sometimes they don't.
Hospitals aren't miracle centers.
No one lives forever, unless of course they are immortal. Which most of us are not.
Surgery is pretty dangerous if you have a pre-existing heart condition, e.g. blocked arteries, etc, and considering that you'd most likely be on blood thinners that you would have been taken off of in preparation for the surgery.