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This Big B File is an update on an open letter to an old Friend back in March of 2005. Janet Koziol was a former Freelance Television News Reporter for KSHB-TV NBC Action News in Kansas City MO/KS Metropolitan area. Janet had recently given birth to a Child and her husband is Russ. All this information is as of Early 2004 and I have no Idea of where she is.
Dear Janet,
I miss you, my very, very good friend. In the almost two years since we last chatted via phone, much has happened in my life, as I am sure it has in yours as well. When we last chatted on the phone (me from home and you from KSHB), you had at that time recently given birth to your first child and you were doing freelance work for NBC Action News.
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From Her Days at WMTV-TV NBC 15 in Madison, WI. |
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Since then, I have been trying to locate you so that I can catch up on how things have been going for us. So much has occurred since we last chatted and I had great news for you that can only be told over the phone or in person. The picture of you (on the right) is from your days at WMTV-TV NBC 15 in Madison, Wisconsin.
I do not know if I ever told you this, but I am glad that you and Russ brought life into this world, especially in the culture that we have been living in for the past 20 years (which is most of both of our lives). The parish of my childhood, St. Mary of the Assumption in Neoga (IL), has a tradition that after a newborn child is baptized where the parents are given a rose as a way of saying thanks for giving birth to their child. What would I give to be able to do the same thing to you.
We first met when you did a story about me having Tourette’s Syndrome, being a student in the Radio-TV Program at Lake Land College in Mattoon (IL), and a student at the College Radio Station WLKL-FM 89.9 (now 89.9 The Max). Ken Beno, the General Manager of WLKL, told me that you wanted to do the story about me for Mid-Illinois News Scan (now WEIU-TV News Watch). After talking it over with Ken, I decided to agree to be interviewed by you for the story. During the interview, I uttered the Phrase that has stuck in my mind ever since which is “the DJ Priest”. How could either one of us have known at the time of that interview and resulting news story that we would be great friends all the years later.
It was not until a few years later that I thought about once again. After doing research on a thing that was new at the time called the Internet, I found you at WGBA-TV NBC 26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin (where you were a reporter at the time). It was also the last time that I saw you in person. During the Day that I spent with you at NBC 26, one story that you covered was of a former police officer who was brought back to Green Bay to stand Trial for Murder. It was also the last day for the Photographer [that you had worked with so long, who was moving to a larger market in Wisconsin (I believe that it was Milwaukee, WI).
You suggested to me at one point that I decide between pursuing a career in Broadcasting and the Religious Life. Well…I have taken your advice to heart and have finally decided to become a priest for the Catholic Church. I have been going through the Discernment Process for the last three years (since 2002). It has been far from a simple process. I have inquired with a number of Religious Orders and have not gone beyond the Inquiry phase by a good portion (but not all) for the same reason. I have been assisted a great deal by Fr. John Titus, Vocations Director for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, among others. By the Way …how prophetic you were at the time!
Then you moved to Madison, WI and became the Morning Show Anchor for NBC 15 in Madison, WI. While you were there, you married the love of your life, Russ Koziol. A cousin of his, who happened to be a Catholic Priest, was the one who performed the Wedding. I emailed you on your last day in Madison, WI before you and Russ moved to Kansas City, where Russ had a new job awaiting him.
After looking for a Broadcasting Job for yourself, you landed a job at KSHB-TV NBC 41 (now NBC Action News). You worked there on a part-time basis for 8 months before you were promoted to a full-time Reporter position there at KSHB. After you had been there for a few years, you went from being a full-time report for them, then working for NBC Action News as a Freelance Reporter, and the left the station altogether.
And that is the last time I talked to you in person or via the telephone and/or email. If you see this, please call me or see me so that we can catch up on what has been going on with the both of us since the early part of this Century. My contact information can be found on my Resume, which is located on my personal website, Big B Online. You can also hear what I thing about the issues of the day by going the official website for my radio Program, The Big B Zone, Which can be heard Fridays from 4:00 to 6:00 pm Central Time. I have also been Serving Mass at the Hospital Chapel in Effingham, IL on the weekdays, coordinating the Sunday 10:30am mass at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Mattoon, IL, and Volunteering for WEIL-LP in Effingham, IL, etc. (see my my Resume on Big B Online.
That’s the Big B File. Click on “Post Comment” link below and tell me what you think…I’m Bryan Hewing.
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