Fairhope, Alabama
Former WALA TV news reporter/anchor Amy Greer Thompson was the guest speaker at last week's 'Tea for Two' series at the Museum of History, where she talked for over an hour about her experiences as a reporter and current interests.
Thompson said she grew up in east Texas (Dallas, Houston) but considers Mount Vernon as home, where famous quarterback/sportscaster Don Meredith was a "good family friend."
She got her degree in journalism from SMU and then went into TV news in east Texas and Tennessee for a while before coming to Mobile's WALA in 1990 as an investigative reporter and morning anchor; after about ten years she "retired" to start a family -- but eventually began a career in advertising with a co-anchor for another eight years and then started her own advertising company, Amy Thompson Communications (click).
"FRONT ROW SEAT TO WORLD"
Thompson said she "loved every minute" of her reporter days -- "a front row seat to the world" --- and met or interviewed five Presidents including Donald Trump in 1993 when he was in the area exploring sites for potential casinos.
Other memorable stories were the Sunset Limited train wreck and a massive pile up of over 200 cars on the Bayway due to fog.
She won three Edward R. Murrow awards for her reporting during her tenure there.
EDUCATION NOW THE PRIORITY
Thompson, who has three children, said for the past several years she has been heavily involved in local school issues, particularly the International Baccalaureate program at Fairhope High School.
She called the program a "treasure" and said it was started to help students become more competitive for college selection -- with an enhanced curriculum for "community and global minded learners" to encourage "creative independent thinking" and instill an "interest in service and community involvement."
She established the non profit 'Morgan Thompson Foundation' to help support the program (click).
When "done right" public schools can be just as good or better than private ones, she added.
When asked if she had ever considered going into politics herself, she only replied that "my husband doesn't not want me to."
Currently, her family resides in the Barnwell area in the county south of town, a neighbor of museum director Donnie Barrett.
Former WALA TV news reporter/anchor Amy Greer Thompson was the guest speaker at last week's 'Tea for Two' series at the Museum of History, where she talked for over an hour about her experiences as a reporter and current interests.
Thompson said she grew up in east Texas (Dallas, Houston) but considers Mount Vernon as home, where famous quarterback/sportscaster Don Meredith was a "good family friend."
She got her degree in journalism from SMU and then went into TV news in east Texas and Tennessee for a while before coming to Mobile's WALA in 1990 as an investigative reporter and morning anchor; after about ten years she "retired" to start a family -- but eventually began a career in advertising with a co-anchor for another eight years and then started her own advertising company, Amy Thompson Communications (click).
"FRONT ROW SEAT TO WORLD"
Thompson said she "loved every minute" of her reporter days -- "a front row seat to the world" --- and met or interviewed five Presidents including Donald Trump in 1993 when he was in the area exploring sites for potential casinos.
Other memorable stories were the Sunset Limited train wreck and a massive pile up of over 200 cars on the Bayway due to fog.
She won three Edward R. Murrow awards for her reporting during her tenure there.
EDUCATION NOW THE PRIORITY
Thompson, who has three children, said for the past several years she has been heavily involved in local school issues, particularly the International Baccalaureate program at Fairhope High School.
She called the program a "treasure" and said it was started to help students become more competitive for college selection -- with an enhanced curriculum for "community and global minded learners" to encourage "creative independent thinking" and instill an "interest in service and community involvement."
She established the non profit 'Morgan Thompson Foundation' to help support the program (click).
When "done right" public schools can be just as good or better than private ones, she added.
When asked if she had ever considered going into politics herself, she only replied that "my husband doesn't not want me to."
Currently, her family resides in the Barnwell area in the county south of town, a neighbor of museum director Donnie Barrett.
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