NCKU 1971 FLLD-DC Reunion: An American, A TV Anchorman (Bob Dalton) Taught Me How to Speak

Being a new graduate student from a non-native English speaking country - Taiwan in 1973, trying to overcome the language barriers, I often turned the TV on during my lunch hour at home. My English advisor encouraged me to use it as the best way to bridge the cultural differences. So, Bob Dalton became my first TV anchorman, besides Walter Cronkite, appearing on our grainy black and white TV screen, which we picked up really cheap from the yard sale, at Blacksburg, Virginia. I was so amazed that he, a genuinely talented pitchman on his own merits, with his perfect pronunciations of words and a sense of humor, was able to cover a wealth of business news to make me, a first year foreign student, understand and appreciate the history and values of American culture from his noon time news. It really helped me a lot for my English then.

In 1975, after completing my master’s degree, career and family planning were immediately intertwined. Little did know I would get a chance to meet the niece of Bob Dalton’s wife, Fumiko Dalton.

It was in the summer of 1980, when I took my one and half year old daughter, Celeste, for lunch at McDonald. Judy was with her two cute daughters, Shirley, 4-year-old, and Debbie, 3-year-old eating lunch as well. The kids mingled and played quite naturally and happily on the bench when we, two strangers, exchanged the pleasantry. It turned out that we both were living close by the neighborhood of Suffern, New York. Judy’s husband, Henry was the president of National Cheng Kung University in New York region while Ben and I were both NCKU Alumni. Three of us all graduated from Tainan, the southern City in Taiwan and the heart of Taiwanese culture.

Of course, there had been a lot of family, school and social activities with them ever since. I only knew from Judy that her aunt’s husband was “Uncle Bob” in DC, Channel 9 - CBS TV station. I was still not sure if that’s the Bob Dalton, who unknowingly, through his plain language, noon time business TV coverage, was my hero to enlighten me on how to improve my English language skills. I eventually professed the English speaking techniques and became an active member of Toastmaster club.

To make the story short, Judy, Henry and I became good friends, and the kids really hit well together all these years while they were growing up. Ben, Eric, my son and I, attended Shirley’s wedding in 2004 at the posh Bethpage State Park Golf Country Club, New York. In 2009, both Henry and Judy also flew in from New York to attend Celeste, my daughter’s wedding at Berkley’s Botanical Garden, California.

I have been in DC region since 1980 after Ben and I left from Graduate schools in Virginia. Fumiko, Bob Dalton’s wife, a community socialite, was never officially introduced to me until 2008, when I was serving the vice-president of Taiwanese Americans Association of Greater Washington Chapter. The annual Thanksgiving Dinner banquet and award ceremony that year started our mutual and cordial relationship, aside from our busy life outside of Taiwanese Americans circles.

Three hundreds and seventy guests from Taiwanese Americans Greater Washington community all gathered at New Fortune Restaurant, Gaithersburg, Maryland, for annual Thanksgiving party. That included, Ambassador to Washington, Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), VIP representatives from TECRO (Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office), Mr. Bellocchi, chairman of the board and managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIC, 美國在台協會), and Mr. Fonte, the Liaison between Taiwan’s Democratic Party and policy makers in Washington. Fumiko Dalton was given a life time honorary distinguished community service award.

When Lyndon B. Johnson’s signed Immigration and Naturalization Act went into effect in 1965, Fumiko and Bob were famous for helping out the graduate students from DC region during the height of influx of elite graduate students from Taiwan in 1960s – 1970s. With Fumiko’s successful Chinese restaurant and Taiwan Grocery store in Bethesda, plus Mr. Dalton’s top-rated anchoring noon news on WUSA and his TV social networks, her Chinese restaurant became one of the most famous restaurants to attract the cities high-rollers. They both did a lot of hands-on work at local charity – anonymously. Social parties were often held in her house to entertain Bob’s TV social circles and Taiwanese VIP friends. They were instrumental to promote and engage the community building. These types of works kept them grounded in people’s lives. They were immensely popular among Bob’s TV associates. The immigrants from Taiwanese community greatly appreciated their contributions.

During the ceremony, Fumiko, 80-year-old, extremely beautiful even in her advancing age; dressed in a fashionable white silk suite, and heirloom pearls, gracefully walked up to the stage and accepted the award. That’s the first time I finally met her – the enigmatic and charming figure.

In 2009 – 2010 when I was actively serving the president of Taiwanese Americans Association of Greater Washington Chapter, various activities: such as church organization congregation, Christmas party, Taiwan school summer picnic, Taiwan Cultural Center seminars, and other fund raising events brought us together more frequent than the past because of my community duty.

On January 12, 2013, Obama’s Inauguration Day, and a federal holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday. I stopped by her house to deliver my Class Album II – my semi-memoir, which she was so generous to support my scholarship initiative for my Alma Mater – National Cheng Kung University, Foreign language Literature Department. Fumiko shared with me a memorable account of her life with her husband, Bob Dalton.

The following is the reminiscences of her loving memory with Bob Dalton, her late beloved husband. He passed away on December 10, 1999 from pneumonia with his wife Fumiko at his bedside. The temperature was hovering around 28 degrees F., breezy and cold outside, but, we were cozy warm in her spick-and-span and custom-designed kitchen. She had a cup of hot water full of ginseng roots in it. I saw her tiny sweat oozed from her smooth skin, with the light touch of make-up, she’s still very naturally radiant.

The house was warm and illuminated the brightness from the sun shining outside. I myself began to sweat. She said “I keep the temperature high in this house, so I can be comfortable.” “This is a big house; your electricity bill must be high!” I commented. She grinned with delight, and led me to the spacious living room, with an elegant chandelier hanging on the ceiling. She began to give me a grand tour of her house. My eyes immediately caught on the big framed romantic picture of Bob and Fumiko together in 1972 on the wall. I said, “That’s the one! The one I saw on Channel 9 noon time in 1973!” She sank back into her memory of the tenderness for that happy moment. “Bob was holding a cigarette in his finger,” Fumiko recited.

“We were a dream couple for 35 years.” She recalled.

“At the beginning of our dating time, I did not know how serious he was until one day he announced loudly to me.”

“Fumiko! We are going to get married!” She gazed toward me with the mixture of shyness and giddiness. We both laughed out loud together and fixated our eyes on the picture for a long time.

Fumiko was an amazingly pretty girl in her early 30’s embraced with the tall, imposing, handsome and dignified Bob.

“Everyday he would like me to pick out the clothes for him before he went to work,”

“Every morning, he would blissfully wave good-bye at me outside the window in the car.”

“One day, he came right back in hurriedly and asked, “Honey, what’s wrong?” “Where were you?” “Because I did not wave good-bye at the window and sent him off to work.” Fumiko filled me their sweet story gleefully.

I glanced through the wall of pictures with Bob’s acclaimed awards, President Reagan and Carter’s White House invitation cards from his early days of Radio and Television era. There were framed pictures of dingy yellow Washington Post news with his achievement, honor, or laudatory notices. Some of the names I still vividly remembered them: Katherine Graham from the Washington Post; Gordon Peterson, Andrea Roane, J.C. Hayward, Max Robinson, and Maureen Bunyan of Channel 9 television station. Those had been my daily news anchor men and women on Channel 9 since we settled in DC region in 1980. Fumiko knew them very well because veteran Bob’s professional relationship with them. She would share with me some of their stories and anecdotes. “These were endearing, funny and interesting bygone days.” she said with sad eyes.

Clearly, she still loved those moments when she entertained Bob’s business colleagues at down stairs’ party room. With a ballroom and dance floor, it could accommodate up to 40 people for a seated and served dinner. The home bar set up offered them a great place to host different parties for Bob’s company and Fumiko’s community distinguished visitors.

“I always played as a hostess and a cook myself, with only one hired bartender, and one busboy to handle this kind of parties here.” She indicated to me when I saw all four decorated tables next to the dancing floor. I could imagine the heyday of Bob’s radio and television careers after his 35 years of marriage with Fumiko.

“Bob was a very successful and well-known radio and TV personality in the Washington, DC area,”

“Decades of changes in television never changed him.” She was in reflective mood, and then told me decisively.

“But, he did quit his drinking and smoking eventually. Because he said “life is so much to live for and I have a very good family, why should I ruin it?”

“He covered news and everything else, including making pitches for milk, and beer and wearing a cowboy hat as host of a western series.”

“One time, he was advertising the variety of the coffin caskets with his familiar pitchman’s style, but, he was totally in shock to discover a real dead man in the casket,”

“He paused, his own uncustomary burst of emotion forgotten.”

“What an extraordinary experience he had for his television career.’ Fumiko again put her hands to cover her mouth for her own emotions.

Fumiko pulled two big photo albums for me from her luxurious master bedroom book shelf. Pages and pages of lovely pictures of them together; cake cutting wedding scenes, vacationing at mountain resorts, cruising at seaside villa, party gathering with community folks and bathing-trunk clad smiling Bob’s holding the enormously gigantic Chinese winter melon and long gourd at the turquoise blue swimming pool side in the professionally landscaped fenced yard. Fumiko told me she had a green thumb for home-grown vegetables in the garden. All and all, it tells a story of the couple who was deeply in loved, respected and cherished for their whole life together.

Then she pointed to me one more time the picture of their wedding night on the album.

“The funniest part of our wedding night was …..” she broke up laughing hysterically.

“200+ guests attended our wedding that night. The dinner party went on uproariously to dancing and open bar drinking non stop until past midnight.”

“The hotel manager was giving us gesture about closing up the floor and the bar. All these guests had no intention in their mind to leave the party. Bob took the podium and announced loudly as a newly wed groom.

“Hey, guys, you all get out here please! It’s my wedding night; I have to spend time with my newly-wed wife. It costs me too much money for your drink, you guys are making me broke now!”

“Then, immediately, the guests left with cheers!”

Bob’s quick wits and improvisational expertise, which he exemplified during the most memorable night of their life, told me what a professional anchor man he was.

Thanks Bob! That’s another humorous part of American culture I learned from an American.