A Minute with Drexel: Mel Showers, mentor and friend

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — Hey, y’all. Well, I was going to talk to you this morning about the recent hurricanes, Helene and Milton, and how weather storms are a lot like life’s storms… coming at you out of the blue and knocking you flat.

But while I was writing that piece, something came out of the blue and knocked me flat.

I received the news that long-time WKRG television news broadcaster Mel Showers had died.

Mel and I began working together back in 1982 on what was then Morning News Center 5, and later we launched WKRG’s Noon Newscast. I was just a young’un and Mel taught me so much. He taught me how to be a better writer, how to go after the story, how to be a professional and to keep my composure when those things that can go wrong on live tv….do. He also taught me the importance of being trustworthy and reliable. And after he’d taught me that and more, he taught me how to teach those who were coming up behind me.

On TV, you saw a Mel who was smart, funny, unbiased, hard-working, polished, friendly, and loyal. Those of us who were with him in the newsroom saw the same thing. Because Mel Showers was the real deal.

What can we learn from this week’s “Minute?” I hope it reminds us of the importance of valuing the people in our lives, of telling them how much they mean to us, to show them grace, to lead the way, like Mel did, toward making things better in the world. I hope it inspires us to do and say the things that leave a legacy of goodness when we are gone.

We missed Mel when he retired from WKRG. We will miss him even more now. Please take a moment to remember all the goodness that Mel Showers put into the world. And, if you are a praying person, and I hope you are, please take a moment to pray for his family and all of those who loved him. Rest in peace, my friend. And that’s your minute with Drexel.

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