Dick Faurot: My Final Blog

This will be my final blog as a meteorologist for KOTV.  In case you had not heard, I am retiring and today is my last day at work.  I do want express my appreciation for all the kind words I have received from so many of you, and I want you to know that this decision was mine and on my terms for which I am very grateful.  I might add, that I have every confidence in the weather team and the overall organization in place here at KOTV and that they will serve you well.  When the retirement announcement was made internally, the quote given below was used.  Thought it was certainly appropriate and I plan on doing my best to wear out some fishing poles in the near future.

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This next photo you folks in Green Country will not recognize, but the good folks in Cajun Country certainly will.  KLFY TV 10 in Lafayette, La is where my broadcast career in meteorology started in August of 1975, nearly 42 years ago.  I owe a debt of gratitude to Jim Baronet, Maria Placer, and in particular Tom Pears.  Tom Pears was the GM of KLFY TV 10 and took the chance on hiring someone fresh out of college with no broadcast training and certainly no broadcast experience.  In fact, I had very little interest in broadcasting at the time and had a lot to learn about meteorology; still do for that matter which is why I find meteorology to be so fascinating.  Anyway, Jim and Maria took me under their wing and helped me learn the ropes and I enjoyed the 18 years we were in Cajun Country;  talk about good food and ‘passing a good time’, those folks have it in spades. 

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Lots of good memories from our time there and I particularly appreciate everyone putting up with my growing pains as a meteorologist and as a weather caster.  We made many friends and I particularly enjoyed the salt water and fresh water fishing!  For example, here is a photo of a gar fish I caught on rod and reel while fishing for redfish and speckled trout in a coastal canal.

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In 1993 I received a phone call from Jim Giles at KOTV giving us the opportunity to move back to OK.  My wife, Connie, and I are both from NW OK and at the time my mother was having serious health issues and there were other circumstances which had me thinking it would be nice to be closer to home.  The Lord certainly works in mysterious ways as He worked everything out so that we could make the move to Tulsa and I started at KOTV in July of 1993.

The past 24 years have had their ups and downs as the weather here can certainly be challenging and the broadcast environment is changing at a rapid pace.  We have enjoyed every minute of it and in case you are wondering, NO we are not leaving this area.  We love it here, our kids and grand kids live nearby , we have established many relationships that we cherish, and have no plans to leave.  Hopefully, we will be able to do more traveling, but I am most interested in becoming more involved in volunteer work.  As you can see in the photo, I am a member of the Chainsaw Team for the OK Baptist Disaster Relief organization.  I am also on the Debris Removal Team and my wife is a member of the Feeding Unit.  Needless to say, my work responsibilities have kept me from participating in those efforts as much as I would like.  The photo is from work that was being done following the N Tulsa tornado of last year which is one of the few times I have been able to participate.

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Throughout my career, my primary focus has always been to provide folks with the best, most accurate weather forecast I could provide.  My apologies for my many failures in that regard, but again, that is what makes weather so fascinating.  As one of my favorite quotes states:  “All of us could take a lesson from the weather, it pays no attention to criticism.” 

So, thanks for reading the blog, thanks for your viewership over the years, and perhaps we will meet on the water one of these days.  May God richly bless each of you.

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Dick Faurot