My thoughts on Marvin Zindler's death
It is with great regret that I must tell you Action 13's Marvin Zindler has passed away. He lost his battle with pancreatic cancer Sunday shortly after 6pm.
We have built a Marvin Zindler tribute page on abc13.com where you can leave your condolences to his family.
Experiencing that office was nothing you'll ever see in television anywhere else or ever again. When we went out to do stories, people ran up to meet Marvin and ask for his autograph. For those of you who don't know, that type of thing usually does not happen in local TV. Especially not at that level. That's why Marvin carried around cards he could autograph for people. Here I was an 18 year old kid riding around with a legend and instead of ignoring me, he actually talked to me. He was legitimately curious about my life and asked all kinds of questions. I really was stunned. I felt like Wayne and Garth with a rock star...I truly wasn't worthy.
Marvin was always very nice to me. He even let me do a promo with him for the rat and roach restaurant report. In fact, he pointed at me to yell, "Slime in the ice machine!" Alan Hemberger's comment after the video was, "Marvin's training them younger and younger." I'll never forget that. I originally wanted to be a photographer. Marvin told me, "You're a good looking kid with a strong voice, you should be in front of the camera." That led me down a path to eventually become a reporter.
For those of you not from Houston, Marvin was more than just a TV consumer advocate (the first local one in the nation). He was a Houston icon. I can remember being on the playground as a youngster and talking with the other kids about Marvin. How could you not talk about him? He was like a living superhero for children. I can't tell you how many friends of mine wanted a signed Marvin picture when I interned at KTRK.
As you will see in the tribute section, Marvin was a living superhero. He helped people AROUND THE WORLD. How many consumer reporters actually do that? He was a lot of flash clearly, but also a lot of substance. He really seemed to care about people.
This is a truly sad time for Houston and the KTRK family.
7 comments:
Oh no!
He's been part of my TV life for as long as I can remember.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Thank you. His death is a big blow to Houston. There are many of us who do not remember a time without Marvin Zindler.
I was saddened to hear about Marvin's passing. When I heard that he was going into the hospital, I thought that he would make it. He was a great man who truely cared about people. I remember watching Marvin and Channel 13 when I first moved to Houston in 1992 and I thought that he was just this loud guy on tv, but as I got older, I realized that he wasn't just a personality. I remember when I was younger when Talkboy's were popular (from the Home Alone Movies) my sister and I pretended that we were doing a "newscast" and I would play the part of Marvin Zindler because I liked adlibing his signature signoff.
I am surprised that the other local affiliates are covering his passing and that they are having their own tributes to a competitor. That just shows how much of a Houston legend he really is. He is even getting some coverage up here in Dallas on our Newsradio station, KRLD-AM and WFAA.
May he rest in peace. My prayers go out to his family and the KTRK family.
A lighter note:
Marvin played golf at Braeburn CC for years. He had his own customized cart with a barrel full of bird seed and played every shot off of a tee. By the time he got to the turn, he had a complete aviary of pigeons, mourning doves, geese and ducks following him along.
It would usually take him six hours for a round. Really fun to watch.
Houston's a little more like every other town today.
I still have the autographed Marvin Zindler postcard you got me in high school! One of my favorite possessions.
One day while wandering around the East Village in New York I came across a band flyer that made out of the same postcard. No explanation, other than someone thought he was cool enough to promote an indie rock band. I agree!
The tribute your station did during the 10 PM news Sunday night was spectacular. I cried and laughed throughout the entire thing. It was true class and I enjoyed it.
mike, you were fortunate to have gotten such an up-close Marvin experience.
some years ago, i was at some sorta fine arts performance, can't remember what, when i saw Marvin in the lobby during intermission. i had turned around and he was literally right in front of me.
he said hello to me and smiled, probably because i was standing there gawking at him, and i said, "hello, Marvin," even though we had never met face-to-face, though i think i may have spoken on the phone to him a time or two.
he seemed nice and it seemed like he really enjoyed being MAR-VIN ZIND-ler, EYE-witness, NEWS.
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