I have a friend in Savannah that keeps me current on some of the old radio guys I’ve worked with with something happens. At this age, it’s usually another death. This time WSAV TV’s Joe Cox who did the TV weather as Captain Sandy. I remember going to work for WSAV Radio where I met Joe. From the second floor radio control room, you could see down into the studio. Joe was part childrens show and part weather. Wikipedia says ” The character gave the weather on the evening newscasts, working with puppet sidekicks “Wilbur the Weather Bird,” “Arthur Mometer” (our thermometer), and “Calamity Clam.” Captain Sandy would appear on the news set wearing a vaguely nautical cap and blazer, a nod to the region’s dependence on the Atlantic Ocean. Captain Sandy’s big thermometer was temperamental and would fidget before revealing tomorrow’s high. The fun part came when Captain Sandy opened Davey Jones’ locker to get the tide information (a crucial component of any weather forecast in the region) out of Calamity Clam, who always tried to bite the captain.” The set was run by one of the floor crew and I think I may have done it once. Most viewers probably thought that the clam was just fun, but Joe always knew that the guy in the back wanted a piece of his hand each night. Joe later moved to WJCL TV and Radio where I found myself working with him again. Joe had apparently been ill and died Saturday at the age of 80. Joe and I haven’t kept up over the years, but my thoughts go to his family on his passing. It’s at times like this you wished you’d at least called each year to say Happy New Year, or something. The Savannah Morning News has an article about Joe here! Check out the paper’s article for some other cool pictures of Joe with old show props. (Photo Credit: Cecil Daniel)
The singing weather intro went like this: “Yo ho, yo ho, what’s the weather going to be? Here’s the man who knows, let’s take a look and see. Here is Captain Sandy with the weather he has found, for Savannah and for Chatham and the counties all around.”
From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on December 6, 2008. View the original page.
