Our SemDems Activist of the Month for June, Jerry K., was born and grew up in New Jersey, as an only child with his stay-at-home mother and handyman/plumber father. Jerry attended Seton Hall University and studied Communications (theater and broadcast). He was initially scheduled to graduate in the class of 1969, but life intervened and then he later finished in 1999. To graduate with a BA, he wrote a thesis on the changes in the broadcast industry that he had seen and took two Spanish courses at Valencia Community College to complete his language requirements.
Jerry married twice and has two daughters. The elder is a singer/actress who performs locally and has created a business using actors from all over the country to control online avatars to train counselors and managers in interpersonal relations. The younger has put herself through Veterinarian Technology School and is on a management track at a veterinary practice in North Carolina.
Jerry had a long career in media, starting as a writer/reporter for AM/FM radio stations in New York and New Jersey. He worked his way up to News Director and then transferred to a station in West Palm Beach, FL. Then he ran his own photo finishing company and was the Editor for a 10,000-household circulation weekly in Palm Beach County, FL. He moved into television, and then relocated to Orlando in 1987 for the Assignment Manager position at WESH-TV which he held for 8 years. Thereafter, he got involved with public broadcasting holding Executive and Senior Producer roles at WUCF-TV, the PBS station in Central Florida.
Jerry had to be politically neutral for most of his career, but retired and after the 2016 election, he could no longer be neutral. He was on the Communications Committee when the SemDems were gearing up and reorganizing. Now, Jerry helps the SemDems with photography, video production, and even “old-fashioned” news releases, when needed. Jerry says that what he likes best about participating with the SemDems is that they are “trying to save the country.”
Jerry has a personal story regarding what Democrats have suspected--that the Republicans have been playing the long game. “In 1972, covering a local election in New Jersey, I asked a young Republican why they had spent so much money on their successful candidate for a city council. ‘Because we are going to run him for County Freeholder, then the state house. Once we have the statehouse, we have redistricting. One we have that, we have the congress, and that will give us the Supreme Court,’ he said.”
As for hobbies, Jerry “used to do theater” which included design lighting for 3 or 4 productions a year at Seminole State College and supervised students in the execution of the designs. Jerry earned many awards for his theatre production work, as well as, his professional work. Now, he is mainly a big-time genealogy buff. One theory has him as a 22nd generation grandson of William the Conqueror. “I don’t think it holds up, but I do have DNA from northern France,” opines Jerry.
With his creativity and background in production, Jerry is a terrific asset for the SemDems!
