From André Bernier, Feb 26, 2015

Greetings! I came across your web site when I Googled "Charlie Taylor WTEV."

It was GREAT to see his photo from that era!

I am the chief meteorologist at WJW-TV in Cleveland, Ohio (28 years now). I am a New Bedford native and was a young teenager in the early to mid 1970s. I befriended Charlie when I was a freshman in high school through Ben Schnieder and his affiliation with the Explorer's Club for kids interested in TV careers.

I rode my bike to the station and locked my bike behind that cement lattice. The art director at the time took a liking to me and kept an eye on my bike from the window that faced the lattice work (he said kids would try to steal my bike on more than one occasion and he shooed them away).

After a few months of constantly coming in, the receptionist told me that I did not need to sign in anymore. I was welcomed to come in and learn from (and occasionally help) Charlie. I believe I earned his respect when, one day, he was stuck in traffic and came in very, very late. But I had been there all afternoon and prepared the forecast they way I watched him do it, prepared the graphics (magnetic maps and forecasts) and had everything ready for him for when he walked in the door. He was not only grateful for my taking the lead on getting things done, but he changed only one word on the magnetic forecast board and used the maps that I created for him as-is. Imagine the thrill of biking back home and watching all the maps and the forecast that I had created on TV (all when I was 15 years old!). That is one of my fondest memories of working with Charlie.

I learned of his death from our meteorological publication from the AMS and was so saddened to hear that. I dedicated one of my morning weather segments to his memory and found his son so that I could tell him how much of a blessing his father was to me.

I write about Charlie in my 2011 book, The Extra Mile, from pages 37 to 39 if anyone is ever interested. (See below.)

I hope someone can submit a photo of Ben Schnieder from the 1970s sometime.

Blessings from Ohio,
André Bernier

Excerpt from "The Extra Mile"
For a time, New Bedford was fortunate to have one of the three network television affiliates in the city.

New Bedford actually belonged to the larger Providence market from which the other two affiliates operated.

The studios of WTEV (now WLNE) were located only a few miles away on County Street in the downtown district.

l vaguely remember the buzz in New Bedford when the station went on the air.

I was almost four years old.

As our black and white television slowly warmed up, we saw a test pattern on New Year's morning in 1963.

New Bedford had its own television station and an ABC affiliate to boot.

In the 1970s, Charlie Taylor was the chief meteorologist.

Charlie was a tall, thin, and quiet man with a gentle smile.

Our paths crossed when I joined the Explorer's club that had a local broadcast focus. The formation of the club met with some success initially. Our group helped to write and conceptualize a local promo about the Explorer's Club. Ben Schneider, who worked at WTEV as general talent and occasional weather fill-in, was our club's host. He took us through the process of preparing the promo that we would eventually tape, shoot and edit. If good enough, it might even be aired.

Unfortunately, the process ground to a halt when he broke the news to us that the local unions would not allow the club to touch any of the equipment. Without the ability to see a realized project after working for months to come up with it, the club members began slowly losing interest. Only a weekend camp outing with Ben at the end of the school year held us together as a group. The Explorer chapter disappeared over the summer, but my visits continued.

In much the same fashion as I did with WBSM, I managed to befriend not only Charlie Taylor, but also Ben, news director Truman Taylor (no relation to Charlie), the art department director, many of the engineers, and the lobby receptionist.My interest in their work over a long time genuinely fascinated me and that allowed them to extend a great favor to me.

This favor meant that I did not need to "sign in" as a visitor when coming to shadow Charlie.

All of the fihn engineers knew me by name since some of the station's weather equipment was located in the same room as all of the film chains.

Having free reign of the teletype room and main studio, I would lay out all the information that I( knew Charlie liked to look at when he came in. After a while, I would actually design a forecast and walk to the main studio to use the magnetic letters to prepare the forecast.

On occasion, Charlie liked what I had prepared and left it completely as was.

What a thrill to ride back home and to see my leg work for Charlie actually on television. The rush of adrenalin of seeing something I helped to make kept me coming back for more.Once again, the extraordinary kindness of a professional willing to mentor a weather-crazy kid who was young enough to be his son propelled me several steps closer to the stars for which I was aiming.Charlie eventually left WTEV for Louisville, Kentucky where he enjoyed a long running popularity. A few years ago, I was stunned to read Charlie's obituary in a professional journal. While he was ten or fifteen years my senior, that was still too young.Wanting to somehow honor him, I dedicated one of my weathercasts to him by way of giving him a public “thank you," one which my soul believed he somehow received through the curtain of eternity.

Excerpt used by permission
from the 2011 book
The Extra Mile, by André Bernier.

Chapter Two: 100% Probability
pp36-38.

Available on Amazon.com