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Matt Stump
The measure of any man is the legacy he leaves. Consider-ing the brains, wallet and heart possessed by Bill Daniels, the father of cable television left as large a legacy as any man in the modern telecommunications industry.
More than 2,000 friends, family and business associates gathered in Denver last week to say good-bye to Daniels, who died March 7. As one speaker eloquently noted, in Bill's world, the lines between friends, family and business associates were nonexistent. People floated seamlessly throughout all three categories, a chief reason he was beloved by all.
Bill was the cable industry's consummate evangelist and matchmaker. He also provided the industry with its conscience. "He was a tireless huckster and a one-man booster club," said Amos Hostetter, AT&T vice chairman. "We all referred to him simply as The Big Guy."
The personal attributes Daniels found so important served him well in business. That code was to treat other people with respect, share with others and be willing to take risks, Hostetter said.
Hostetter said Daniels' bottom line was: "Pass on the knowledge and values to the next generation and have business associates say you are an honest person."
Family and friends told countless stories of his generosity, like the $50 tip on Christmas Eve for a $10 food tab. Erika Schaefer described working for Daniels for more than 20 years. "Airline tickets would appear for someone who needed to go home to visit a sick relative," she said. Medical bills would get paid, no questions asked.
Bill's stepchildren related a story how after reading about a Denver family down on their luck, Bill loaded the kids in the car, drove by the family's house and deposited a wad of cash in an envelope on the front stoop. "Drive by giving," said Daniels' stepson Mitchell Fox.
I first met Bill Daniels in the 1980s, ostensibly from the enemy camp. I was working at Broadcasting magazine, at the time the staunch defender of the broadcast industry against all comers, especially cable. But long before I arrived, Daniels had gone out of his way to befriend Sol Taishoff, the founder of the magazine. I can remember Sol had little patience for much of the cable industry. Like most broadcasters at the time, he felt cable operators had prospered on the backs of TV stations.
But Daniels was one of the few cable guys to bridge that gap. He was "a good guy" to Sol, even though he was from across the tracks. Such were Daniels' people skills.
Daniels helped many broadcasters get into the cable business. J. Leonard Reinsch at Cox was a prime example. With Daniels' selling skills, Cox entered the cable business in the 1960s, and like so many other cable companies, the rest is history.
I last talked to Bill Daniels two years ago. He was in declining health but agreed to do a 20-minute video interview as part of Cable World's 50th anniversary salute to the cable industry.
He was vintage Bill. Prior to the interview, he read the papers and talked about business between inhalations of oxygen. We sat down in front of Bill's video wall at Cableland. He was terribly proud of the cable industry he had helped build. Proud of the multitude of programming choices the industry created. He was especially proud that cable had built a $30 billion a year business with no help, no handouts, and no tax breaks from the government.
Bill was, as Fox said, a walking contradiction. Fox would get a thumb's up while dating in high school. Fox's sister, Cindy Daniels Kryjak, said she had only a handful of dates in high school, since Bill would put the fear of God in every young man who knocked on their door.
Fox said Daniels' ashes were spread across the Pacific with those of a stray cat who befriended Daniels in his later years and subsequently died. "The fighter pilot going to rest with a kitty cat," Fox said. That was Bill.
Daniels mixed a patriotic Republican wallet with the heart of a Democrat, a seeming contradiction that made perfect sense to those who knew Bill.
His greatest legacy is that he has, and will continue to touch so many souls beyond the cable industry, through Daniels Business School at the University of Denver, through the Daniels Fund charity, the largest in Colorado, and through the Young American's Bank he founded.
My son was an unknowing beneficiary of his largess through the AmeriTowne program, where students spend a day running an actual town, setting up businesses, social services, a newspaper, the whole lot. The kids had a ball and learned a lot on Bill's dime. Bill wouldn't have had it any other way.
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