Would you believe I began delivering the news when I was 14 years old? Yes, I delivered 126 copies of the evening Pittsburgh Press to homes in my Fox Chapel neighborhood.
Click the player above to watch his final farewell.
Little did I dream when I went to college at American University in Washington, D.C., and joined the on-air staff at WAMU, I would begin a career delivering the news on radio and television that spanned 60 years. I have been blessed to work for one company, Graham Media, for 55 years.
The first six years were at WTOP radio and TV in Washington D.C., followed by 49 years here at WJXT-TV. While in Washington, I covered many anti-war demonstrations.
Thanks to my long hair, I blended in with the protesters.
I reported on President Nixon’s resignation after Watergate. The scandal was exposed by the Washington Post, which at the time was owned by the Graham family.
Innovation, Teamwork, Integrity and Passion define the core of this TV station.
Longtime viewers will remember 22 years ago when we parted ways with the CBS network and became The Local Station.
Talk about innovation -- no more Dan Rather, David Letterman, NFL football, or even Search for Tomorrow. Right now, we broadcast nine and a half hours of news a day, all made possible by remarkable teamwork.
I believe two other factors, rooted in integrity, really set us apart at Channel 4 -- one is our passion for making life better for the people who live here. The second is the extraordinary trust that people in North Florida and South Georgia have in us.
Both go back to the 1960s and the Channel 4 documentary, “Government by Gaslight,” which helped persuade voters to approve a consolidated city-county government. Drive over the Fuller Warren Bridge, and it’s hard to imagine the city used to stop drivers and frisk them for a quarter to cross the St. Johns River and the Trout River. After Channel 4 pointed out how inefficient and taxing it was for drivers, voters approved a local sales tax, and the bridge tolls were abolished.
Airline passengers flying into our airport used to sniff the odor of turpentine or the syrupy smell of a paper mill until our documentary, “The Smell of Money,” brought the issue to light. Following our reporting, a savvy candidate for mayor, Tommy Hazouri, went on to win the city’s top job, while launching a crusade to clean up the odors.
PHOTO GALLERY: Tom Wills through the years | MORE: Stories celebrating Tom’s 49 years at WJXT
When Touchdown Jacksonville! was pursuing an NFL franchise and negotiations with the city collapsed, did prospective team owner Wayne Weaver call a news conference to make his case? No, he reached out to us and gave us an exclusive interview that played a crucial role in getting the franchise pursuit back on track. When Mayor Lenny Curry and his allies supported the process to privatize JEA, former mayor Jake Godbold, perhaps the most trusted man in Jacksonville, reached out to Channel 4 and gave us an interview that galvanized resistance to the move.
Nov. 5 will be this station’s sixth presidential election since we went independent. Every four years, our election coverage is the most watched election coverage in our area, more than any of the broadcast or cable networks. In this case, I believe it is because most viewers trust us to be even-handed, unbiased, and thorough.
Keep in mind, we don’t switch to Lester Holt, David Muir, or Nora O’Donnell. Our election night coverage will begin at 5 p.m. and continue as long as the story continues. In one previous election, we went to 3:30 a.m., only stopping to make way for our morning news.
Before we get to November, hurricane season is about to begin. Based on experience, if our area is threatened, viewers and readers will flock to us in droves, leaving other news sources behind, as they did with both Matthew and Irma. We are by far the most viewed source of tropical weather information in the region. One of the most gratifying moments in my career was during our coverage of Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
I went on air and read a NOAA warning I’d just received on my phone. I begged viewers to take the evacuation orders seriously. I got emotional, as you can see in the picture, co-anchor Mary Baer, who had no idea what I was doing, put her hand on my arm to calm me.
My appeal went viral. When the storm passed, so many viewers wrote and called me, came up to me and thanked me and said they evacuated because of my plea.
But it is not me. It’s because of the trust the viewers have in all of us here at The Local Station.
I am blessed to have worked side-by-side with three wonderful co-anchors in my Channel 4 career: Deborah Gianoulis, Mary Baer, and Joy Purdy.
You may be asking why I’m retiring now. It’s just time. My wife Gina and I knew when it was time to get married, we knew when it was time to have children. We are blessed to have these three.
Now, after thoughtful and prayerful consideration of many factors in our lives, we knew it was time for me to retire.
As for what I’ll be doing, I have a number of pursuits that are personal to which I’ll be devoting more of my time and energy.
And then there are these three grandchildren.
Adele is 12, and her brother Jack immediately behind her in this picture is 10. Their cousin Wesley over my right shoulder is 8. Grandma Gina and I will be devoting more of our time to them. Finally, I cannot say on which day, during what occurrence, Gina and I put down our roots here in North Florida, but we did.
We love living here and would not live anywhere else. We will be the first to tell you how much the Jacksonville area has changed for the better in the almost half century we have lived here.
We are optimistic the area’s best days are in the road ahead.