In 1973, I heard a fresh new voice on WGSO radio that I thought would be perfect for a Luzianne coffee commercial I was producing. I wrote the script and went to the studio to create my commercial with the new announcer from Detroit who had great pipes—Dan Milham.
The spot began with the phrase, “Here in New Orleans,” and Milham intoned, with his deep, rich voice, “Here in New Orleens.” I interrupted to explain that it was only pronounced that way in songs rhyming with “red beans,” “Creole queens” and maybe “pinball machines.” He learned to pronounce it “New Awlins.” Every time we’ve gotten together through the past 38 years, I’ve reminded Dan who taught him how to say “New Orleans” properly.
We’ve remained friends anyway.
I interviewed Dan at his lovely home in Slidell’s Oak Harbor, where he and his wife, Paula, also a TV broadcast veteran, have lived since 1993.
Early Days
The late ’50s found Dan in his eastside Detroit high school involved in a broadcasting guild, doing public address announcements, performing in plays, building a radio studio and generally learning his craft. In college, he majored in mass communications, working in radio and acting in productions for a local PBS station, all the while fine-tuning his talents. In the early ’60s, Milham, blessed with a good voice for radio and knowing that girls really dug DJs, got his first job as a rock jock.
Then he heard from his uncle named Sam, who offered him an all-expenses-paid vacation in Southeast Asia. “How could I pass that up? By the way, they said, ‘You’re not gonna pass this up!’” Dan served honorably in the Vietnam War, creating weaponry-efficiency information tracking. After the Tet offensive, he saw combat during those early years and returned home with memories he’d rather forget.
On To New Orleans
Weather played a big part in Dan Milham’s move to New Orleans.
“In February 1973, I left a radio station in Detroit for the opportunity to become a staff announcer and program host at WGSO in New Orleans. It was a mild winter up north, so I looked forward to seeking my fortune in the sunny southland. I had a Volkswagen Beetle because it was so snowy-weather-cold hearty and driving down to New Orleans was going to be easy, I thought. At the twin bridges at Slidell, it started snowing, and they closed off the bridges. I thought it was really hardly snowing. So, being a snow-savvy northerner, the first thing I did when I got to New Orleans was break the law—go around the barricades—’cause I didn’t know how else to get into the city. But I wasn’t the only one doing it, and I finally made it to the radio station for my interview.” He asked a doorman in the French Quarter if they had salt trucks for the snow piling up in the streets. The doorman said they had salt in saltshakers in the restaurants, but otherwise, he had no idea what Dan was talking about.
The New Orleans market welcomed Milham, with his wit and warmth as an announcer, his proficiency as a producer and, eventually, as program director. When the station had the Saints broadcast rights, Dan produced the programs.
Once in 1977, when Dan and I had drinks after work, he told me he was offered the weekend weatherman slot. I was happy for him, but as we toasted, he expressed reluctance to taking the offer. He said that Nash Roberts was THE New Orleans weatherman, and he’d never top him. I encouraged the move with, “You’re funnier.”
Dan says, “When I went to Channel 6, it was as weekend weatherman and staff announcer. ‘Oh, and Bill Stanely’s sick, so can you come in and do that?’ I was utilitarian around the station, but I really grew to enjoy doing the weather—my way.”
He admittedly didn’t know much about weather at the time. “But I fell in love with the presentation part of the job, studied the weather, passed all the tests and submitted a tape of my weather shows to a panel of members of the American Meteorological Society.” Dan got his official seal as a member and became Channel 6’s official fulltime evening weatherman in 1980. Trouble was, he still wasn’t a real meteorologist.
“We really like your work,” the bosses at WDSU-TV told Dan. “But we’re gonna have to find a real meteorologist, so don’t be insulted, but you’re gonna have to train your replacement.” So from April through August he auditioned scholastic weather wizards from around the country who had no clue how to apply their expertise to presenting a weathercast on TV.
The general manager called Dan into his office and drawled, “Y’know, Danny, it occurs to me, you been tryin’ ta win this job, haven’t cha?”
“I remember stopping myself from saying, ‘Did it take a lot of thinking on your part to arrive at that conclusion—for me to stay at this position?’” But Dan wisely held his tongue and got the job again for good. Real good. He studied diligently through correspondence courses and classes and was ultimately certified by exams administered by the AMS. Finally, Dan was really Dan the Weatherman.
During our conversation, I mentioned that, while banter on newscasts can be very stiff, Dan’s humor was always welcomed. He said, “I was blessed with some pretty darn good people on the anchor desk, like Norman Robinson, Kris Fairbairn, Margaret Orr and others who were fun on the air when it was appropriate and not just boring chit-chat.” They remain friends to this day.
Not surprisingly, the worst of all weather for Dan was Katrina. “It was more stressful than any other event simply because we weren’t even here. The station decided to move us to Jackson, Miss., that Sunday, when most everyone had evacuated anywhere they could. Even WWL radio was out of town, broadcasting from Baton Rouge. Our company, very smartly, was able to get our signal on the air in Houston, Baton Rouge, Jackson, Orlando and many other markets where our evacuees fled. It was a fabulous group effort, and I was very proud of our company.” Six weeks later, Dan returned to their home in Slidell, luckily finding little damage.
I brought up his early trepidation about embarking on a career in weather in Nash Roberts’ town. I recalled his saying over a few drinks back in 1980 that Nash ‘owned New Orleans weather.’ He laughed. “Was that only a few drinks we had?” Then he said, seriously, “To this day, he still does. I learned that while Nash was a wonderful guy with great qualities and was a true New Orleans weather pioneer, his reputation is a bit mythological. He was a great forecaster—but he wasn’t a good broadcaster—even he would admit that. Like so many New Orleans legends who were what they were because they were so non-formulaic—Hap Glaudi and Buddy Diliberto come to mind—he didn’t fit into any standard mold. They were unique to the city.
“With Nash, it all came down to working with the same U.S. Weather Bureau information everybody else was.” Dan smiled to himself. “When I said that on a radio interview once, I found out that you had to be very careful how you talked about Nash. A lady called in, dressed me down rather smartly and said essentially, ‘You just watch yourself there, you whippersnapper, you!’ Like all of us when we’re young, there are some lessons to learn.
“But, really, if you were so disposed [at that time] to record everyone’s weathercast at, say, the 5 o’clock news and played them all back, I doubt if you’d have found significant differences. That’s still the case today.” It’s all a matter of presentation skills and the personality of the presenter. And my friend Danny was one of the best.
Life After TV
After 31 years as chief meteorologist at WDSU-TV, Dan was offered “a rather generous amount of money” to retire. He was told the company was going to offer similar payouts to other employees, so he’d have to make his decision within 24 hours. He has never regretted his decision to take the offer. In his 31 years at WDSU-TV, he served under 11 general managers and 14 news directors.
Clik here to view.
The retired weatherman practicing golf and enjoying a good cigar. Copyright 2011, Abby Sands Miller, abbyphoto.net.
I asked what weathercast he watches nowadays. “I get most of my information now from the internet. I rarely watch local news. I don’t mean that to be an insult, but if I want to learn current information about an item, I can find it online.”
Dan has two daughters from a previous marriage. “Rachel is 35; she’s a cosmetologist with a good list of clients. My youngest daughter, Christen, 33, is a social worker. Both have terrific husbands, I’m happy to say.” Christen also has a degree in psychiatry, so I asked Dan if she ever gave advice to her dad. “No,” Dan said, without missing a beat. “She gave up on that.”
Dan met his wife, the former Paula Pendarvis, when she came to Channel 6 as a producer. “I was struck instantly with how bright she was and what a good producer and an excellent writer. Being beautiful didn’t hurt, either. We worked with the same group and we would all hang after the newscast sometimes, like on a Thursday night at Molly’s in the Quarter.” A few years later, they married. That was 18 years ago. “Yeah, I think it’s gonna work,” he grinned.
They built their home in Slidell’s Oak Harbor 13 years ago and were the sixth home in the subdivision. “It was an existing floor plan, but we eliminated a bedroom to expand the kitchen for Paula, who’s a gourmet cook, and a bar for me.” Dan enjoys an occasional scotch. Canals cut through the subdivision and lead to Lake Pontchartrain, but Dan’s favorite feature is the golf course. He loves a fine cigar and his golf therapy on occasion. “Am I good? Nah. But I love it. For me, it’s gettin’ outside, jokin’ with the guys, smokin’ a cigar and gettin’ off enough decent shots to make myself think, ‘If I only concentrated a little more …’”
With his impressive eye for cityscapes, homes and landscape portraiture, Dan’s photography hobby has turned into a post-retirement business. “New Orleans and all of Southeast Louisiana is so stunningly interesting and beautiful, it inspires my work. Every now and then, I’ll take pictures for friends, like family shots for some fellow Rotarians, but I’d prefer landmarks and such.” He appreciates the ease that digital technology adds to his craft. “If it doesn’t work, I just hit ‘Delete’ and it goes away.” His work can be seen at pictureneworleans.com.
I asked if he missed broadcasting. “No. I know that sounds like, ‘Well, gee, I thought you liked it.’ Truth be told, I loved it since high school in Detroit, but that’s over. My dad and mom both imbued in me the concept of turning the page—that’s over; let’s see what’s next.” His dad was in the tool and die business in Detroit, serving the auto design industry. Mom became a secretary/executive assistant at the gas company. Both quit when it was time. “They retired down in Florida, and had some good years there.”
I asked if being stopped in the supermarket by folks wanting to know what the forecast is gets tiring. “I still get asked, ‘Is it supposed to rain?’ I don’t know what it is. But, y’know, I s’pose if after 31 years on television no one recognizes you, it’s possible you might not have made much of an impression.”
More than once, though, Dan has run into a fan who says, “Y’know, I watch your show every night!” I suggested that might be a way for him to get back on the air. Think of it. When we’re having the same weather pattern for weeks on end like we do every summer, let’s run Dan Milham’s Greatest Forecasts!
Any other thoughts? “I was asked just yesterday at dinner with some friends if I had a ‘bucket list.’ I do have a bucket, but no list. I said, ah, it seems like I have my health; I have a wonderful wife; I have a very nice house that I like; I have two healthy, happy daughters who are married to really nice guys; and a sweet little perfect granddaughter who’s just a riot. So everything is nice. Life’s pretty good. I’m not gnawing away at ropes tryin’ to get outta here, by any means. It’s a nice place to be. I get to play golf a lot, too.”
I asked Danny to complete this lyric: “Way down yonder in ____.”
“Nah, you’re not gettin’ me on that one, pal.”
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