Veteran Bay Area Newsman Retires

Dave McElhattan, a 50-year veteran of the broadcasting industry, retired from his anchor job at KPIX(TV) San Francisco.

Springing it on viewers rather suddenly, McElhattan told them that "this is my final newscast for Eyewitness News. For some time, I had been hearing the clock tick louder and louder." Approaching his 72nd birthday, he said he "decided to quit while I'm ahead. I don't want to wait until I'm too old to enjoy retirement. Why such short notice? The answer is I'm an Irish marshmallow ... I'm a great hello but terrible at goodbye. But goodbye it is and, as I used to say on the 11 o'clock news, good luck."

In his lengthy career as a broadcaster, McElhattan had two employers: KCBS radio and KPIX television-something short of the average for a 50-year TV news career.