[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 11 (Tuesday, February 3, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         IN MEMORY OF CHRIS DUFFY, INDIANA BROADCASTING LEGEND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 20, 2004, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, this week the State of Indiana said farewell 
to a memorable Hoosier and a dear friend, Chris Duffy, a man whose 
impact on Indiana broadcasting in the 20th century can scarcely be 
overstated but whose impact on the lives of thousands of Hoosiers, 
myself included, was greater still.
  Chris Duffy was born in 1936 to George Christopher Duffy, who was 
himself a legendary band leader back in the days when traveling band 
leaders were the equivalent of rock stars today. Chris was born to a 
promoter and he was himself a born promoter. He came by it honestly.
  Long before arriving in Indianapolis where he would run or build 
three out of the five television stations in that city, Chris Duffy cut 
his teeth on the first successfully syndicated daytime television show 
in history, the Mike Douglas Show. Young Chris Duffy was a producer for 
the Mike Douglas Show and his energy and comic timing led not only to 
the show's success off the air but resulted in Mike Douglas actually 
routinely pulling a young Chris Duffy on-stage and turning him and his 
antics into a regular that contributed to that show and still 
contributes to quality daytime television today.
  From the time Chris Duffy moved to Indianapolis in 1975 to his 
retirement a few years back, he was not so much a business leader as a 
force of nature. He transformed Channel 13 into an NBC affiliate and 
turned it into one of the premier local news stations in America. He 
built Channel 59 Television with several local leaders and then went on 
to build another independent UPN station. During a time when local 
broadcasting was thought a thing of the past, Chris Duffy made an 
investment in high school athletics as the leader of WNDY Television 
like no other.
  His accomplishments, though, in people far outweigh his Indiana 
Broadcasting Hall of Fame career. Chris Duffy was all about his people. 
Whether it was recognizing that a young FM radio man named Tom Cochran 
who could someday reach the highest levels of recognition in local news 
or even recognizing that a young political has-been could achieve 
success in talk radio and someday in politics, Chris Duffy loved to 
bring out people's potential. He did it with toughness, straight talk 
and a heart that made you want to be better, better even than you ever 
thought you could be.
  Chris Duffy was a devoted American. At the time of his retirement 
from the Marine Corps Reserve, he put in more than 20 years of 
distinguished service for his country in uniform and his courage was 
not just in uniform. While leading the NBC affiliate in Indianapolis in 
the early eighties, he broadcast a documentary of the Ku Klux Klan that 
drew death threats before it aired but Chris went ahead undeterred. 
Chris Duffy believed in America and in the highest ideals of the 
American people.
  And Chris Duffy was about family. His 41-year marriage to Bobbi and 
his total devotion to Maureen, Karen, Susan and Chris pervaded 
everything he did. It was impossible to talk to Chris for any length of 
time and not eventually hear about Bobbi's opinion or some progress in 
his children's careers.
  I last saw Chris Duffy over breakfast this last December. In his 
usual style he put the bad news up-front. He told me he had cancer and 
that it did not look good. But he also told me, Mike, I'm not the least 
bit worried, and he reflected on his life, his family and his profound 
faith in God. He thought he had more time. When the Lord called him 
home last week, like so many other lives that he touched, I felt sorrow 
in my heart at the loss of a friend but not at the loss of a life. 
Chris Duffy lived a life and then some. Chris Duffy died, as he told 
me, rich in family, friends and accomplishments that any 10 men would 
envy. I have no complaints, he said, I'm not mad at God or anything 
like that, and he meant it.
  Chris Duffy will be missed. He was for so many of us, as his father 
must have been before him, the leader of the band who believed that 
behind every instrument was a performer who still does not know how 
good he could really be. Thank you, Chris, and God bless you.

                          ____________________