Bob Leak’s first camera came just in time before Illinois Valley Central High School’s Homecoming his senior year.
He always liked football, but who could have guessed years later he would be behind the lens of a news camera shooting more than one Super Bowl in recent years.
Leak, a 1973 IVC graduate, now calls West Palm Beach, Fla., home, and, through the years, has seen news unfold right before his eyes.
It started out simply, though.
His name can be found next to photos of IVC football and basketball printed in the Chillicothe Bulletin. That kept him interested in sports and journalism.
He attended Illinois Central College, however, with an electrical engineering degree in mind.
Once at Southern Illinois University, he changed his mind and went into broadcasting, joining his IVC classmate, Mark Bradley.
After graduation, he took a job as a disc jockey at WPEO. Moving on from there he joined the radio station WCLO, where Ed Hammond also worked, located in downtown Chillicothe.
He landed a job on WMBD radio as a disc jockey, and then got his break as a videographer in a one-week tryout.
He stayed on as a videographer until he moved to WPEC in West Palm Beach as a chief photographer.
After a year of working there, he moved to his current station, WPTV, an NBC affiliate, as a sports photographer.
He caught on tape the Miami Dolphin home games for the affiliate and eventually covered news and features, working for the station 23 years now.
His working career has allowed him to see up close the kinds of things Chillicothe residents watch back home.
In the eye
During the hurricane season in Florida, he works 12 hours and is off 12 hours. Sometimes he sleeps at the station and is the back-up person to run the satellite truck.
Hurricane Andrew in 1992 provided Leak with an eye-opening look at devastation.
“It was like a huge creature had just stomped on (Homestead, Fla.),” said Leak.
He saw others as well, such as Hurricanes Wilma and Charlie.
Faced with 116 mph winds, Leak learned quickly how to take care of business.
He explained that stations like to go live from the eye of the hurricane due to the calmness there, but work must be done quickly, as he then gets the dish down and stowed in preparation for the wind.
While shooting, the media look for a protective C-shaped enclosure to minimize problems.
His most educational experience came through covering Hurricane Andrew for a month. He watched residents rebuild Homestead.
During the hurricane, animals escaped from the Miami zoo. Some residents climbed trees to get away from a leopard, and he saw a lynx recaptured. The animals were not necessarily dangerous, he said, but scared.
Seeing how residents dealt with tragedy remains imprinted on his heart and affects how he thinks about things, he said.
When he deals with a problem, he said, he reminds himself it is only a fraction of what those residents dealt with during that time.
During Hurricane Charlie, the military built tents for students to attend school until buildings could be built.
“It’s a lesson of, you really don’t have it that bad,” said Leak.
The lines of military vehicles and power companies coming through on Interstate 95 in Florida amazed Leak.
“People from other parts of the country would come down and help,” Leak said.
One resident brought out three bottles of water for him and his co-workers, even though their home area of West Palm Beach was fine.
“People were helping other people even if they didn’t know them,” he said.
Common citizens could be found directing traffic, as stoplight and stop signs were gone with
the hurricane, and the police had other assignments.
His closest call came during Hurricane Wilma, as 60 mph winds picked up a piece of plywood, and it missed him by about 15 feet.
While Wilma did not leave the building devastation like Andrew, Leak said he was without power for three weeks.
During the hurricanes, and without power at his residence, he would go to work and then shower at the TV station.
Getting gas can be a challenge during hurricanes for the news van, Leak said. It is not that there is not enough gas in the area, but no power to pump it. The station makes arrangements ahead of time with a gas station to avoid problems. The news van goes through a set of tires while covering a hurricane also.
Authorities and the media warn the residents to stay in their homes and let the media show them the footage, that is if they can see it. If not, the radio stations rebroadcast the audio from the TV footage.
Super Bowl Shuffle
Because of the weather, the area not only sees hurricanes, but also boasts many Super Bowls, usually at Land Shark Stadium, which may host another this year, Leak said.
He even drove to Phoenix a few years ago to shoot football footage, since the affiliate there also was owned by Scripps Howard.
“It is a lot of work,” said Leak, and he also noted his lack of sleep.
While there are some down sides to covering the big game, Leak also said he sees celebrities while he is there and the ESPN media personalities.
He does not actually shoot the game, but shoots everything else, Leak said about covering five Super Bowls.
“It’s like a presidential visit when you go to the Super Bowl,” said Leak of the security. Security scans badges, the bomb-sniffing dog comes through and more.
While the first couple of times were fun for Leak, he now says, “Now, it’s not only an adventure, it’s a job.”
He said it is better to watch the game on TV than in person.
Focusing on celebrities
Hurricanes and the Super Bowl are not the only news items Leak has covered behind the lens.
A student shot a teacher in his area, and the NBC affiliate wanted footage from the county jail.
His work that day ended up opening the Today Show.
Golf tournaments are popular outings for Leak to catch footage of the stars.
For one, Leak went to the home of Bon Jovi’s drummer, Tico Torres, for the interview.
Another time, Donald Trump was in the area for a golf tournament, and Leak received the interview.
Tennis players Venus and Serena Williams live a few miles away and also can be seen in some of his footage.
Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey provided commentary during the William Kennedy Smith rape trial in Palm Beach. Later on, Leak spent a week with him at the OJ Simpson murder trial. Leak is the only photographer who was allowed in the conference room where the work occurred in successfully defending Simpson. He photographed defense attorney Johnny Cochran in the room.
“With this job, you get to see slices of history,” said Leak.
“The best part of the job is getting to meet new people every single day,” said Leak, adding that everyone has a story to tell.
The one drawback, Leak said, is, “The pay is not as great as you’d like.”
Another story he said he enjoyed covering was meeting astronaut Edgar Mitchell of Apollo 14.
Mitchell was the sixth person to walk on the moon.
In high school, principal Lonnie Parr gave Leak a pass to stay home to watch the moon landings in 1969 and 1972.
His favorite assignment was more than a decade ago, which was a trip to Israel to cover the Middle-East peace process. He traveled with 500 people sight-seeing with a Jewish group from Boca Raton.
Though admittedly not a world traveler, Leak said he always wanted to see the country and all the places talked about in the Bible.
As for the state of the media in recent times, Leak said, “It’s sad that the business is going through what it is now due to people getting their news other places.”
Remembering home
While he is shooting school news in Florida, he is reminded about his upbringing.
“I’m glad I went to school when I did and where I did,” Leak said.
While in school, he was part of Mary Ellen Harrison’s choral department as one of a quartet. He said she was a major influence in the competitive spirit of choir becoming more like a team sport.
Speaking of sports, Leak played football his junior year and had coach George Taylor for general science.
Leak’s father also played for Taylor.
Leak remembers one quote Taylor used to tell his students.
“Be like a duck, calm and collected on the surface, paddling like heck below the surface.”
That may be good advice for Leak, whether he covers hurricanes, celebrities or Super Bowls.
Links to some of Leak's stories
A 9 and a half minute video Leak shot on the behind the scenes of our traffic helicopter. Best when watched in HD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erupFOeqHlw
Hurricane coverage from the station parking lot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPTchDZ5ZjU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m-z6k2Lh08&feature=related
A story he shot with Serena Williams when she was 12 years old
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv2iG5iQp1o
Chillicothe, Ill. —
