In addition to Mary, Dick Nourse also goes to my gym. He’s usually exercising on the recumbent bikes at the noon hour. I usually exercise after 1 pm, so I hardly ever see him. I find myself ignoring him just like I’ve done with Mary. I think that he must be there to exercise and doesn’t want people bugging him.

Dick Nourse has been a newscaster in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Salt Lake since 1964. He has worked at KSL for longer than I’ve been alive and he’s a fixture on television. My most vivid memory of him happened when I was in the fourth grade. We had been warned about this very special assembly and all of the parents had been invited. Governor Scott Matheson was appearing at our school.

It was the only time I remember my dad coming to one of my school assemblies. He was so excited to meet Governor Matheson.  I remember sitting in the lotus position at the assembly. I have no idea what the principal said to introduce the two men at the front of multi-purpose room. I remember that the principal said we could line up to get autographs and talk to them.  I remember the crazy and hysterical dash of everyone to the front of the gym. Everyone except a precious few, were lined up in front of the other guy’s table. That other guy was Dick Nourse.

While my friends stood in the long line to get Dick Nourse’s autograph, my dad and I stood in the tiny line to talk to the Governor. My dad wanted to thank Governor Matheson for keeping the Red Eye Missiles out of Utah. My dad really thought that he was an exceptional man and he was so grateful that he was taking care of our state. My dad wasn’t alone. Governor Matheson was beloved. Our county courthouse was named after him and his sons are the rare Democrats to be elected in Utah.

All of that accolade, yet Dick Nourse was the rock star that day. When I heard the unfounded rumors that a certain newscaster was going to be the running mate of a presidential candidate, it didn’t surprise me. I believed it readily, even though it had already been proven false. I saw a vivid demonstration of the power of newscasters when I was nine years old. Dick Nourse could be our next governor if he only got off that recumbent bike.