Dan Miller, the revered WSMV anchor whose warmth and ease before the camera made him a local institution for three decades, died last night from a heart attack in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia. He was 67.
Save for five years in Hollywood, during which time he served as his former WSM colleague Pat Sajak's announcer and foil on CBS late night's The Pat Sajak Show, Miller made his name here in Nashville. As news anchor for Channel 4, a post he held for nearly 30 years, Miller won multiple Emmys and was a perennial favorite for the city's Best Anchor award.
Miller was stricken while walking yesterday with Channel 4 sports director Rudy Kalis and reporter Terry Bulger. The three had spent the day watching Master's practice rounds in Augusta.
Miller and his friend and co-anchor Demetria Kalodimos made one of the most formidable anchor teams in the city's broadcast-news history. On the WSMV website, Kalodimos said of Miller's last day:
"(Dan) had talked for weeks about visiting a practice round of the Masters and then walking the streets of his old neighborhood, and that's exactly what Dan was doing last night when he collapsed...Rudy said they had had the best day of their lives on the course at Augusta, so if there is any comfort this morning for those of us in the Channel 4 family, and all of Nashville who so loved Dan Miller, it's that he was doing something that he loved when he left us."
Just four days after the death of former
Banner editor Eddie Jones, it's safe to say Nashville journalism has suffered grave and historic losses this week. As you might imagine, WSMV is
all over this, and our condolences go out to his co-workers and loved ones. If you ever met Miller personally, or just enjoyed watching him over the past three decades, please share your thoughts below.
Update: Kalodimos was nice enough to return a phone call. Obviously still in shock, she said she'd been ribbing Miller for the past couple weeks about his return to Augusta. He, Kalis and Bulger had taken a similar pilgrimage last year and according to Kalodimos they'd been talking about going back ever since. Last night, before Miller died, she posted "Now I don't have to hear about this trip anymore!" on his Facebook wall. Partners for 20 years, Kalodimos and Miller did their last broadcast together Friday at 10 PM.
"'Save those tapes.' That's the first thing I said when I got in this morning," she says. "Get them off the shelf so someone doesn't inadvertently lose the last newscast. He is so important to this city. He's a great piece of continuity for Nashville. And there'll be no one like him again."
