The world lost a good man yesterday. Ken Screven passed away.
Screven was a longtime fixture in the Capital Region; first broadcasting on WROW radio, then moving to television as a reporter for WRGB. I’ve always felt that he was a good man, a proud man who never shied away from truth. No matter what trials he faced, he did so with dignity and conviction. And he was not afraid to share his journey, both on television and in a weblog.
Ken and I crossed paths several times, and I’ve blogged about those encounters.
I never blogged about our last encounter … until today.
It was a few months ago. November 7, 2021, to be exact. Ken had recently taken a fall at his apartment, and was recuperating at Albany Medical Center. Several of his friends visited him in the hospital; I did as well. I brought him a book to enjoy – a history of the 1919 “Red Summer” that one of my college classmates authored. Since I knew Ken also enjoyed classic R&B, I showed him a video of a sketch from Saturday Night Live – it was Ego Nwodim impersonating Dionne Warwick; only to be interrupted by Ms. Dionne Warwick herself. We had fun. It was good to see Ken laugh.
That unfortunately was the last time I personally saw him.
It’s truly a shame. Ken was a shining light in this area. He was funny, he was erudite, he suffered no fools and he supported causes of conscience.
One of his personal accomplishments involved a three-part documentary that aired on WRGB. It was a visit for Screven to his ancestral home of Screven County, Georgia. Here’s the video. Please enjoy.
As far as I’m concerned, Ken Screven was a broadcasting icon in the Capital District. Put him on the broadcasting Mount Rushmore with Ernie Tetreault, Dick Wood and Ed Dague.
And in honor of Ken Screven …
This photo of mine now has a new name.
Going forward, please enjoy “As Seen From Screven County.”
I’d like to think that the lunar eclipse that night was a message from that great higher power, calling Ken Screven to glory.
Rest in power, good sir.
Thanks for every news story, every memory, every time you made us laugh, or cry, or think.
Now you get to dance with the angels.
And most likely they’re playing a Diana Ross and the Supremes medley.
Chuck The Writer 
Nice. I’ll have to link to it.
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Blessed ๐.
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Thanks for sharing Chuck.. I never knew he worked at WROW. I did some time there as well as a news reporter about 2000, but by then it was a rip and read operation run by the right-wing blowhard Paul VanDenburgh at the time, and great reporters like Ken long, long gone. At least though, nice to know to tramped on some of the same ground as Ken.
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