NABET stands for the National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians. Eckhartz Press author Chuck Quinzio is a member of Local 41. The union publishes a slickly produced quarterly newsletter, and they did an extensive story about Chuck in the upcoming Spring issue. Here’s a small excerpt from the piece…
People always ask him about his job and say, “You know, someone should really write a book about this,” so Chuck Quinzio did just that. In his recently published memoir, “Life Behind the Camera,” Quinzio employs a wry wit to chronicle his 30-year adventure as a Chicago news cam- eraman and the steps he took to get there. He currently works for FOX 32 and is a member of NABET-CWA Local 41 in Chicago.
Born in Ottawa, Illinois, about an hour south of Chicago, Quinzio’s book provides insight into his formative years with erst- while tales of a strict Catholic upbringing and some struggles in school.
Excerpts of the book are reminiscent of Jean Shepard, a Chicago-born radio and TV personality, who is most famous for the semi-autobiographical story on which the movie “A Christmas Story” is based. Like Shepard, Quinzio’s sense of humor brings his book to life.
His first foray into the broadcast business was in radio. “I wanted to be the world’s best rock-and-roll DJ,” Quinzio explains. But, after interviewing for radio gigs in
1981 and seeing first-hand the work (and the pay), he quickly changed his mind. Through a family friend, he applied for a position as a $4.50/hour cameraman at a television station in Rockford, Illinois. Though he had no experience, the station was willing to train him, so he got the job.To help him prepare, Quinzio’s co-work- ers would record the network newscasts for him each night, which he would then emu- late through his camera work. After two years, he put in enough time and effort to “get pretty good at it,” he said.
Quinzio then moved on to WMAQ- TV/NBC5 in Chicago after “pestering” them enough to hire him. After he left WMAQ in the early ‘90s, he joined FOX, where he has worked for the past 20 years.
“This Job is a Privilege”
The job of a local TV cameraman puts you in touch with all aspects of life, Quinzio says: rich, poor, sports figures, regular folks. Calling his job a “privilege,” Quinzio says he has worked alongside many people with incredible stories that would have made a good book. “I’m very fortunate that I don’t sit in an office, and people seem to have an interest in what we do,” he says.
Quinzio says one of his favorite parts of the job is to be able to meet well-known people and talk to them about everyday stuff: “To be able to meet Barack Obama as a Senator and talk basketball is pretty cool.” Obama, he said, would always come up and talk to the camera guys. The endless variety, “something different every day,” also has appeal he says. Along the way, he has met people like O.J. Simpson, Tony Bennett, Michael Jordan, and Reggie Jackson. As a huge Yankees fan, Quinzio was very excited to get a picture with the baseball legend Jackson, but the meeting left him with a not altogether favorable impression. Jackson exclaimed, “Don’t touch me!” when Quinzio stood next to him for the photo.
Asked how the married father of three found the time to pen a book while working full-time, Quinzio explained that he wrote most of it at night (after his usual 10-12 hour shift) and on weekends. Following the advice of associates, he found a publishing company who eventually accepted the book for publication.
Some stories continue to resonate with him, including a 1988 school shooting when a woman by the name of Laurie Dann walked into an elementary school on Chicago’s North Shore and opened fire, killing one boy and wounding two girls and three boys. “It was one of those all-day kind of events. Watching the parents come out of the school and seeing their faces stuck with me. It’s something you remember forever,” Quinzio said.
Quinzio’s assignments often bring him in touch with local and state politicians. Recently, Quinzio found himself covering cur- rent Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, and offered him a copy of his book. An impressed Emanuel said, “That’s incredible. You guys always have the best stories.” He then proceeded to take Quinzio into the “official photo” room and posed with the book and author. Another book recipient, Chicago’s police commissioner Garry McCarthy, made a point of telling Quinzio that he really enjoyed the book.
A Los Angeles City College professor re- quested permission to add the book to the required reading list, along with the AP Stylebook, for the school’s journalism classes.
The trade paperback is available at Eckhartz Press (www.eckhartzpress.com), and the e-book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Apple Book store.
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