We have lived in Portland for going on 34 years now, and one constant has been having Mike Donahue on our TV screen, bringing us the news on Channel 6. "The Chipmunk," as a friend of ours used to call him, is a real pro -- a class act. We'd put him right up there in the Bill Schonely category when it comes to being a video icon in this town. There are so many memories of stories that we got from him. Other people were reading us the same news, but it wasn't really authoritative if it wasn't coming from Donahue.
This week we learn that Donahue is retiring in a couple of months, after a most distinguished career. We join a lot of other long-time viewers in wishing him all the best.
Comments (11)
I was Mike's producer (and later Executive Producer) for 15 years. If you looked in the dictionary under the word integrity Mike's picture should be there. Mike never took the responsibility of sharing the news of the day lightly and saw his "celebrity" as an opportunity to reach out to others, not feed his ego. He worked through his dinners to watch video and write for our newscasts. There isn't a person who spent even a day at KOIN who will forget the time they spent in the presence of someone so worth the accolades he is receiving now as he announces his future. He will be missed.
Coming from you, with your high standards for people in the public eye, this is high praise indeed. And well deserved. Mike has been a real asset to this community.
When TV anchors and reporters seem to come and go, when TV stations are looking for "image" - Mike Donahue has perservered and remained a steady icon in Portland. I may not have watched him often and I never got to meet him in person, but he earned our respect every day when he could be trusted to report on the news of the day.
Thanks, Mike. You'll be missed, and best of wishes in retirement.
I spent enough time in media to learn that announcements of retirement bring out the truth that everyone feels about a particular individual. The fact that everyone wishes Mike a happy retirement should tell you everything you wanted to know about him. (Funnily enough, I came across some VHS tapes from when I lived in Portland fifteen years ago, and I played one a couple of months ago. Catching a bit of one of his newscasts made me wish we had more folks like him down here in Dallas.)
Maybe Scott Fernandez will hire Mike when Scott gets elected Mayor. City Hall sure could use a kind, unselfish, smart, straight talking man of integrity like Mike Donahue.
As a former competitor of Mike's for years - and who usually got trounced by him in the ratings - I echo John Ray's sentiments. Solid journalist, hard worker,loyal,and highly admired inside and outside the newsroom. A nicer person you'll never meet. Best of luck, Mike, and enjoy retirement. You've earned it!
Mike would feel out of place in the snakepit that is City Hall. After years of reporting the news, trying to obfuscate the facts would be tiresome at best.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
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14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
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Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
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Conundrum 2012
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Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
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Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
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Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
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Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 29
At this date last year: 66
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
We have lived in Portland for going on 34 years now, and one constant has been having Mike Donahue on our TV screen, bringing us the news on Channel 6. "The Chipmunk," as a friend of ours used to call him, is a real pro -- a class act. We'd put him right up there in the Bill Schonely category when it comes to being a video icon in this town. There are so many memories of stories that we got from him. Other people were reading us the same news, but it wasn't really authoritative if it wasn't coming from Donahue.
Comments (11)
I was Mike's producer (and later Executive Producer) for 15 years. If you looked in the dictionary under the word integrity Mike's picture should be there. Mike never took the responsibility of sharing the news of the day lightly and saw his "celebrity" as an opportunity to reach out to others, not feed his ego. He worked through his dinners to watch video and write for our newscasts. There isn't a person who spent even a day at KOIN who will forget the time they spent in the presence of someone so worth the accolades he is receiving now as he announces his future. He will be missed.
Posted by John Ray | March 23, 2012 9:21 AM
Coming from you, with your high standards for people in the public eye, this is high praise indeed. And well deserved. Mike has been a real asset to this community.
Posted by Allan L. | March 23, 2012 9:29 AM
When TV anchors and reporters seem to come and go, when TV stations are looking for "image" - Mike Donahue has perservered and remained a steady icon in Portland. I may not have watched him often and I never got to meet him in person, but he earned our respect every day when he could be trusted to report on the news of the day.
Thanks, Mike. You'll be missed, and best of wishes in retirement.
Posted by Erik H. | March 23, 2012 9:37 AM
I spent enough time in media to learn that announcements of retirement bring out the truth that everyone feels about a particular individual. The fact that everyone wishes Mike a happy retirement should tell you everything you wanted to know about him. (Funnily enough, I came across some VHS tapes from when I lived in Portland fifteen years ago, and I played one a couple of months ago. Catching a bit of one of his newscasts made me wish we had more folks like him down here in Dallas.)
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | March 23, 2012 11:49 AM
The Last of the Mohicans.
Posted by boycat | March 23, 2012 12:13 PM
Class act, man of integrity and a kind, thoughtful soul aptly describe Mike Donahue.
I've admired Mike and his work throughout his 40 years on the air in Portland.
Well wishes, Mike, your retirement is well-deserved and our loss.
Posted by f.jones | March 23, 2012 12:48 PM
F Jones beat me to it.
Posted by paul | March 23, 2012 12:53 PM
Maybe Scott Fernandez will hire Mike when Scott gets elected Mayor. City Hall sure could use a kind, unselfish, smart, straight talking man of integrity like Mike Donahue.
Posted by Mojo | March 23, 2012 12:53 PM
As a former competitor of Mike's for years - and who usually got trounced by him in the ratings - I echo John Ray's sentiments. Solid journalist, hard worker,loyal,and highly admired inside and outside the newsroom. A nicer person you'll never meet. Best of luck, Mike, and enjoy retirement. You've earned it!
Posted by Pete Schulberg | March 23, 2012 4:30 PM
Not to take anything away from Mike, much the same can be said for you, Pete
Posted by RickN | March 24, 2012 7:24 AM
Mike would feel out of place in the snakepit that is City Hall. After years of reporting the news, trying to obfuscate the facts would be tiresome at best.
Congrats on your retirement!
Posted by Mister Tee | March 26, 2012 9:37 PM