Come Rain or Come Shine, the ‘Sunshine Kid’ Always Came Through

October 3, 2022 Michael Olesker

So Bob Turk slips into the night, taking with him his “Sunshine Kid” persona, his steadfastness even in the face of hurricanes, and his half-century of forecasting the weather over WJZ-TV’s “Eyewitness News.”

He arrived when television was pushing aside newspapers as the primary source of daily information in American life, and he stuck around long enough to see both print and TV shoved off-stage by newer technology with nastier edges.

He showed up in Baltimore living rooms when the big thinkers at WJZ were putting together a powerful lineup that dominated Baltimore TV news ratings for several decades.

Those were the years of Jerry Turner and Al Sanders anchoring the evening news, and Richard Sher and Oprah Winfrey doing “People Are Talking” and the noon news, and Marty Bass and Don Scott dominating the early mornings.

And there was Turk, who got the weather job by walking off the street and auditioning. He had no previous experience weathercasting, but so what? The best-known weather team in Baltimore TV back then was WBAL’s Rhea Feikin and her partner, a puppet called J.P.

Was that a hurricane headed our way? Let’s ask the puppet.

Turk could certainly do better than that. Plus, he had his own occasional partner, a pet dog he’d bring on the air. Unlike the puppet, the dog didn’t attempt to do the weather. But he helped establish Turk’s image: he was kind to animals, he was nice, he was folksy.

Also important: he was a hometown kid (Milford Mill High School, Towson State College), which automatically made him TV’s version of extended family.

In its glory years, WJZ’s ratings were higher than the combined numbers of WBAL and WMAR’s news operations. About half a million viewers tuned in nightly for the station’s 6 o’clock broadcast. Now, all stations in town — combined — draw only a small fraction of that.

With Turk’s departure, Marty Bass becomes WJZ’s last man standing in front of a camera from its powerhouse days.

Whoever came up with the “Sunshine Kid” moniker for Turk picked a nickname for the ages. But in the 20 years I spent at WJZ, the memory that sticks with me is Bob getting angry.

And good for him.

With Jerry Turner and Al Sanders gone to early graves, and ratings drooping, the station turned increasingly to weather reports to enlighten viewers — or frighten them.

On winter days when snow was in the air — or in the air somewhere nearby — the station incessantly promoted the possibility of a downfall. One day, the station opened the 6 o’clock broadcast with video of heavy snow.

The snow was in Cincinnati, a fact conveniently not mentioned. Instead, against a backdrop of Ohio conditions, an anchor’s voice opening the program in Baltimore declared, “There’s snow in the air. Is it heading our way?”

Turk, to his credit, went off-air ballistic.

“I am not going to lie about the weather,” he snapped at the station’s news director.

“We’re not asking you to lie,” he was told.

“Then what’s all this hype?” Turk shot back. “We’re doing it all the time.”

He was standing up for his profession, and for viewers who depended on him. He was the “Sunshine Kid” for marketing purposes, but he was serious about the job.

He did it with good cheer, and with integrity, and he leaves behind not only a half-century of personal history but memories of a time when TV news seemed like the future.

To many observers, it’s hard to imagine Turk leaving so abruptly, and so close to the 50th anniversary of his arrival.

A former Baltimore Sun columnist and WJZ-TV commentator, Michael Olesker is the author of seven books, including “Tonight at 6: A Daily Show Masquerading as Local TV News” (Apprentice House). His most recent, “Boogie: Life on a Merry-Go-Round,” was recently published by Apprentice House.