One Man’s Opinion, “I Will Miss the Mouth of the South,”

When I first met Ted Turner, he was already a larger than life figure, and a rascal around Atlanta, but he was only then introducing himself on the national stage. CNN was barely a toddler, and the Braves were in their formative years as America’s Team. In those days, the big Atlanta banks would not even lend Ted Turner the money he needed to build his eventually global media empire.

Turner always implemented big ideas, usually while national talking heads mocked him. He reinvented the TV news business, helped make the cable industry a multi-billion dollar franchise and redefined the reach of local broadcast stations and regional major league sports franchises.

Saving the Bison, donating $1-billion to the United Nations, creating the Goodwill Games, and becoming one of America’s largest land-owners and preservationists would all come years later.

Turner Broadcasting began underwriting the documentaries and travels of Jacques Cousteau, and his famed Calypso in 1982. That work continued Cousteau’s string of award-winning documentaries, as well as his efforts to save our oceans and marine life. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan awarded Cousteau the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Turner brought Cousteau to Atlanta, he spoke at the Convocation at the Georgia Institute of Technology during their Centennial year and celebration.

A Bulldog Meets Cousteau & Turner @ Georgia Tech Celebration –

This UGA Bulldog, not long out of Athens and then working at WMAZ-TV in Macon, came home to cover the Convocation, meet and interview the famous Cousteau, and then head back to Macon for the Sunday evening newscast.

As a one-man band reporter, I shot, edited and performed the ‘stand-ups’ in my stories. Since Turner was responsible for Cousteau’s visit and funding his documentaries at that point, I chose to stand out front of the then comparatively modest HQ of Turner Broadcasting, the former home of B’Nai B’rith of Atlanta and for many years also Ted Turner’s home, even before there was a CNN Center.

It was starting to rain, and I was about to ruin a favored silk tie in that weather on the 5th or 6th take of my standup. I heard a distinctive voice behind me, unmistakably Turner’s, with his unique Southern drawl.

“Hey son… do I own that camera?”

I stopped, walked over to the late model Mercedes in the rain, and behind the wheel, with a party of three was Turner, a beautiful blonde Turner Broadcasting talent (whom I won’t name), and another couple in the back seat. The quartet was well ahead of me enjoying their Sunday afternoon with a bottle of champagne opened and on ice in a bucket between the driver and passenger’s seat.

I explained to Ted that I was doing a story about Jacques Cousteau, the Georgia Tech Centennial and his appearance there, and the deft move Turner had made stepping in for National Geographic and taking over the financing of Cousteau’s exploits in his twilight years.

Turner laughed, loudly, tipped his head skyward, had his companion refill his champagne flute and said to his entourage, “It’s doesn’t matter if they are talking good about me, or talkin’ bad about me… as long as they are talkin’ about me. “

He shoved the car in gear, and off they went. I got my standup on the next take, with a smile stuck on my face, and yes, I ruined that tie in the rain.

Turner Becomes Globally Famous, and Occasionally Controversial –

Turner would soon be quoted, I think in his Time Magazine Man of the Yearprofile, seeking his philosophy to achieving so much… He had said, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”

I have met some incredible people in my life. Ted Turner was a hero of mine. He was far from perfect, I did not always agree with his decisions, nor his politics, but I always had to admire his drive, his loyalty to his people and his enterprises, and his devotion to trying to make the world a better place.

How many billionaires do you know that pick up trash or broken glass from the street or a curb? I more than once saw Turner doing both. As Atlanta’s Olympic heyday passed, ACOG owned an Olympic stadium with known structural flaws in some of the higher elevation stands, and a track field NOT designed for football, baseball or any major national sporting league’s sport. Turner stepped in, spent $40-million of his own money and converted that into Turner Field. The setting is better at The Battery, the Braves’ new home, but for my money an afternoon at The Ted was hard to beat in the world of baseball.

Turner’s Empire Grew, at Times Seeming That There Was No End In Sight –

Turner got richer, than poorer, then richer again, selling CNN, twice, first to AOL, which ended like a bad second marriage, and later to Time/Warner. That second merger resulted in the larger company divorcing itself from Ted. He moved out of his modest rooftop apartment atop CNN Center, and bought a building a few blocks away, while simultaneously launching a restaurant chain partly focused on restoring the American Bison. Perhaps you have heard of Ted’s Montana Grille…

Turner was often controversial and even when on his best behavior, often irreverent. I never missed an opportunity when I was given one to see him speak. He always made news, even with his quips. He toyed with a run for President. NOT doing that was probably one of the best decisions he ever made. Losing Turner Broadcasting also cost him his beloved Braves, though he remained a fan. His marriages, divorces and love for the ladies followed him around all his life.

In later years, after his diagnosis and decline, I would still see him occasionally at a Ted’s downtown, in a building which also houses the headquarters of his restaurant chain. He kept his own corner table towards the back, and though he has other homes across the country, he would still spend several weeks a year in the Penthouse atop the now Turner Building on Spring Street. The city renamed that Ted Turner Boulevard, though Atlanta still needs to do more to recognize Turner’s legacy and many contributions here.

MILES of Milestones –

He was in cable before it was cool. He turned old cartoons into two more cable networks. He had a failed 24-hour music channel, which pre-dated MTV and VH-1. Turner Classic Movies alone likely saved thousands of aging movie titles from the 1930’s, 40s and 50s from simply being discarded, ensuring they remain preserved, curated and available to the public. Turner Sports predated ESPN, and still hosts some of the best baseball and basketball sports programming and talent in the industry. What was Turner Broadcasting has grown to now include HBO and for a time, the Discovery Networks.

Everything he touched didn’t quite turn to gold, but enough of it did that he and his family and former shareholders will all still be smiling for many years to come. I even credit Turner and his then wife Jane Fonda, often at Braves games with his friend and former President Jimmy Carter, with making the “Tomahawk Chop” a globally famous thing, which now would be a viral Meme on TikTok.

Turner launched CNN on a scrappy budget of roughly $30-million per year, often beating out America’s then three legacy networks, each with annual budgets of closer to $300-million. The media giants in New York, D.C. and Los Angeles laughed at Turner and mocked his Chicken Noodle Network. They are not laughing anymore…

But I still am. Whenever I think of Turner, I always smile and picture that cocksure grin, the bubbly blonde and chilled bubbly on board that sunny Sunday afternoon now four decades ago. Give’em hell in Heaven Ted. I have a feeling you are already shaking things up a bit up there. Rest in peace sir, you deserve it.