There was a time when TV was not in 3D or even color. It was a time when KDFW-CH. 4 was known as KRLD and was just across the street from the late Dallas Times Herald. Dallas’ world of journalism was scrappy with newsrooms filled with cigarette smoke and everyone knew the greats (Blackie Sherrod, Dick West, Paul Crume, Bert Shipp) from the pretty good journalists. One of the true greats, who was admired by the likes of Walter Cronkite, was Eddie Barker. He could handle any situation from interviewing a visiting celebrity to spearheading the coverage of a presidential assassination.
His goal was to get the information out right. An example of this is in Ed Bark‘s Uncle Barky remembrance of Dan Rather‘s incorrectly reporting to the world that University Park schoolchildren cheered at hearing that President John F. Kennedy had been killed. Not only did News Director Eddie investigate the story and get the correct info out (the children only knew that there would be no school the next day, but not why), but he kicked Rather and the CBS team out of his newsroom.
It is with a deep sense of loss that we report the former news director’s death at the age of 84. Our sincere condolences to his family.
“Nobody didn’t like Eddie Barker” as they say. Longtime Austin newsman Neal Spelce told me to call Eddie when we moved to Dallas from Austin. He had just left the TV news business and set up a PR shop. Eddie put me to work, and one of my first assignments was to meet with Ted Hinton who wanted to write a book about Bonnie & Clyde. Seems Ted was the young Dallas County Deputy Sheriff who was one of the posse that ambushed and killed Bonnie & Clyde. We hit it off instantly as my Mother was friends with the widow of Capt. Frank Hamer, the famed Texas Ranger who was part of that same posse. Mrs. Hamer used to tell tales of Capt. Hamer shooting down outlaws while sitting on his front porch.