A college fund has been established for Larry's kids, age 9 and 13.
Donations can be sent to-
The Sons of Lawrence H. Greene Scholarship Fund/CSFA
1505 Riverview Road
St. Peter, Minnesota 56082
Larry Greene 1952 - 2002
Los Angeles
September 6, 2002
I saw the slug on the story when I went in for work today. It
read "Larry Greene."
Nothing connected. What Larry Greene? Not that Larry, it
couldn't be. What the
hell happened?
First you are hit by denial. Then the facts sink in. "It
was a cameraman for
KCBS" my colleague said. "He died in a helicopter crash."
Naw, couldn't be,
not that Larry Greene. "Did you know him?" my colleague asked.
"Yes" I said,
"I've known him for the past twenty years."
Our friend and colleague Larry Greene, was 50. He had a wife and
two kids.
He died in the crash of a Navy SH-60B helicopter in the North Arabian
Gulf,
west of Bushehr, Iran. There were five people on board.
Four of them were
Navy personnel and they survived. Larry, was killed when the
main rotor of
the chopper came into contact with the mast of a ship. That's
what the
report said.
Larry had been with KCBS-TV since June of 1978. He was working
with the
station's Special Assignment Unit when he died.
Larry Greene, was for real. There was no pretentiousness, no defensiveness,
no phony facade, no insecurity about who he was. He cared about
what he did,
and he did it with a sense of ethical responsibility. Through
it all he
maintained a sense of humor. He cared about journalism and journalists.
Perhaps it's just the impact of age--of being around for so long in
the news
business, that you begin to feel that fewer and fewer people seem to
understand what it is we are supposed to be doing. That makes
it more
difficult to face the reality that Larry Greene is gone because
Larry understood.
He got it. We've lost a member of our extended family.
We've lost one of the good ones.
So long pal. God bless-
Ron Olsen
KTLA-TV
Los Angeles
#######
From: Boris Yaro
Los Angeles Times Photographer (retired)
The news out of Bahrain was numbing. One of our own had
died in the crash
of a Navy helo while on "Special" Assignment.
It was fitting that Larry Greene was on that assignment
because he was
indeed "Special".
Larry was one of us, a STREET GUY. One who was keenly
aware of the things
and people around him. One who could be trusted with information
and was kind
enough to treat other street guys the same.
Remembering Larry Greene is to conjur up an image of a
hump-backed
chipmunk (the hump being his camera) scurrying to find the right telling
angle for his audience.
In one instance he was there as paramedics treated a man
badly burned in a
brush fire.There were just the two of us. Larry kept a respectful
distance
as the man was treated and then taken down a dirt trail to be airlifted
to a
hospital. The images were powerful . But more powerful
was the fact that
Larry never intruded into any space that caused discomfort for the
victim or
the paramedics and that made him a special street guy.
I remember Larry learning the streets with another photographer Elliott
Fons
and then watching as they both grew. Elliott left CBS, thankfully Larry
stayed.
Larry was "special" to a lot of us. Most people don't
know who brings them
the images of the day. And in a way a lot of us like that.
When Larry showed up there was always a grin for us. If
we showed up after
he had arrived the grin was still there along with a quick update on
the
situation we were covering so that no one interfered with the story.
Not all
photographers do that for their fellow newsmen. Larry Greene
did.
Larry Greene was special. To his company, to his competitors,
his friends
and his family. The saying that "God always takes the good ones"
is especially true here.
The street guys are going to carry on. And you know
what? They will be a
little better because Larry Greene gave them a goal, a mission.
Be the best
and do the best and treat everyone well.
So long, Larry. Boris
#######
From: Philip Ronney
Photojournalist/Los Angeles
When Larry first came to Los Angeles from Florida as a twenty
five year old cameraman, Channel 2 was in the beginning stages of
transferring from film to electronic cameras. Since I had lived
and worked in the Los Angeles market for many years as a sound man,
the news department assigned me to work with Larry. I would figure
out how to get to the story and Larry would shoot it. In return,
Larry would teach me how to shoot. (Well, he tried)
Our first story together was most unusual. The assignment
desk sent us to UCLA to shoot some weather video. They figured it
would be a good chance for Larry and me to become familiar with the
new gear and each other. We drove down Sunset Blvd. west
toward UCLA. When we got into the West Hollywood area, we came
upon a burning car parked on the north side of the street.
Apparently it had just caught fire because the Fire Department had
not arrived yet. The car was parked by itself along the curb and
appeared to be unoccupied. Not much of a story. We debated
weather it was worth getting out the gear for a story which would
probably never make air. I finally suggested we ought to at least
get the camera out and take a few shots just in case the car fire spread
to the adjacent stores. About 1 minute after we got out the equipment
and started rolling, a man came running up to the car from across
the street. He was shouting. “There’s a man in the car.”
The rescuer ran to the car, which was now almost fully engulfed in flames,
and
somehow pulled open the rear dear and started pulling out the victim
who had apparently been asleep on the back seat. The rescuer turned
out to be an off-duty fireman. “I need help. I can’t get him
out.” “Someone help me.” But the streets at that time of the
morning were
deserted. We were the only ones around. Larry was shooting and
I was carrying the heavy deck. Almost without hesitation Larry
bolted forward. Still carrying the camera and rolling and dragging
me along behind, he rushed up to the burning car and using his free
left hand he helped pull the man out of the car to safety.
The victim, a homeless man, survived and we had a great story.
Moments later the fire department arrived.
That was Larry’s very first story in Los Angeles. It was
an award winner. I think they canceled the weather shoot that day
and
Larry went on to cover many, many award winning stories for Channel
2.
Here are few photos from my collection that include my friend, Larry Greene.
Photos courtesy of Philip Ronney
#####
From: Lynne Cohen
Miami,
FL
The first phone call came late Monday from Av, at the Washington Post.
Leapin' Larry is dead. And then later, Tim the studio photographer
in Miami
called with the same news. He'd heard it from Josh in New York City,
another
UM Communications grad. And the coconut telegraph did its work, spreading
the news across the country to the University of Miami alumni from
the early
seventies. Leapin Larry is dead. Not a one of us asked if it was cancer,
or
a car wreck. If Leapin was gone, he was gone in the line of duty: shooting
the news. We asked, where was he. What was the story.
With almost 25 years in LA, he had become the grand old man of television
news videography, and the eulogies I've been reading are all those
of a
respected, albeit colorful, and consummate professional. But I knew
him when
he was Leapin' Larry Greene, shock jock before the word was invented,
scandalous and scabrous and irreverent and just amazingly funny. World-class
funny. When he and his best friend Bill Kelley ran for Student Body
Government, they did so in their senior year, when they wouldn't have
been
around to serve, even if they won. They ran on the Creative Apathy
Party
(CRAP) and I still have my t-shirt. The campaign was even mentioned
in Time
Magazine and Daniel Berrigan (remember the Pentagon Papers? remember
the
Berrigan Brothers?) pointed out Leapin's particular brand of
political
activism. The Creative Apathy Party claimed that not voting was a vote
for
them, and by their count, they won the election in a landslide. Only
10 to
20% of the student body cast votes.
Leapin' was part of the Student Entertainment Committee, and helped
book
some incredible blues concerts. He also made a promotional film for
the U.
A wild little venture called Mahoney Hall Whoopee. Mahoney Hall was
an all
men's dorm. Let's just say that all copies were destroyed when the
school
finally found out what they'd spent the five grand on. (Sex and drugs
and
rock and roll, basically).
Leapin' was a larger-than-life legend in the history of the University
of
Miami. When the 25th Reunion committee wanted people to come, they
even
discussed paying for Leapin's plane ticket back, just so they could
use his
presence as a draw. Wouldn't have worked. Leapin wouldn't have come:
it was
television sweeps month.
Philip Ronney told the story of Larry's first day on the job in LA,
when he
pulled a homeless man out of a burning car, filming the whole time.
That
story was just one of a million that we told and retold over the years
when
we talked about Leapin'. Philip was astonished. Those of us from Miami
just
nodded, Yep. That's our Leapin.
One last fact to mention is that Larry was the first cameraman ANYWHERE
to
make the switch to video. He was at WTVJ in Miami, and it was a big
deal at
the time. But then, if you knew him, that wouldn't have surprised you.
Damn. Damn. Damn. Leapin' Larry, dead. He was far too alive to ever
be dead.
Larry Greene 1952-2002.
Courtesy: Philip Ronney