Before he was "Positively Schwall" highlighting the high jinx of East Tennessee, Ken Schwall was the consummate newsman.
Just ask longtime WBIR anchor Bill Williams. "You may not realize this, but at his heart, Ken is a newsman's newsman."
Bill Williams and Ken Schwall, who is retiring from WBIR at the end of the month, go all the way back to 1979 - before they worked together at WBIR. Ken was spinning country music tunes and reporting the news at radio station WGAP.
"We needed a reporter and I told Schwall, 'I want you to apply for this job'," said Williams.
The news director at the time was Bob Selwyn, and he made Ken an offer. He recalls Ken's devilish grin, mischievous eyes and wonderful voice. But before Ken officially accepted the job he wanted to break the news to WGAP.
Turns out WBIR beat him to it.
"Somehow or another the unhired Ken Schwall's name rolled up the screen as a new reporter at Channel 10", said Selwyn. "I don't know the exact repercussions of that but I do know this, I taught Mr. Ken Schwall how to break news on television that night."
Ken's first story on Channel 10 featured a comic book convention in town. But hundreds more hard-hitting stories would follow. Williams remembers Ken's coverage of a woman forced from her home by TVA to make way for Tellico Lake. "Under the direction of federal marshals she was moved from her house. It was wonderful TV, and Ken Schwall told it magnificently."
When WBIR needed a news director, Ken's judgment and storytelling made him the perfect candidate. He held the position for two years and according to Williams, Ken hated it.
But during his short stint as newsroom leader Ken made some notable hires, including Moira Kaye.
"I ended up getting hired at Channel 10 as the weekend weather anchor. Ken was the weekend news anchor," said Kaye. "We've been friends ever since."
East Tennessee can easily say the same all these years later.
Though Ken's storytelling has taken a softer edge over time, some things haven't changed, like that devilish grin and those mischievous eyes.
"It's been 36 years that we inflicted Ken Schwall on East Tennessee viewers, " joked Selwyn. "But in truth, we get a great deal of credit because I think Ken Schwall has enriched the community."
Throughout the month of Feburary, WBIR will salute Ken and his work.
