Restaurant & travel critic, Elmer Dills, 82
Bob Feigel
Hosted travel features on radio, TV
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Restaurant and travel critic Elmer Dills, whose radio and television
reports spanned nearly three decades, has died. He was 82.
Dills died Monday in Pasadena, according to Los Angeles TV station
KABC, where he dished out his reports on Southern California dining.
He developed his vast knowledge of food and wine as an officer with
the Central Intelligence Agency. He entertained heads of state and
other VIPs before leaving the diplomatic service after more than 20
years.
Dills then hosted a KABC radio talk show on dining and travel before
becoming a KABC-TV regular reporting on area restaurants.
Dills also did travel features for the station with the late Fred
Anderson, then partnered later with Ric Romero.
"Working with Elmer on all of those vacation getaways was some of the
most fun I've had working in this business," Romero said.
Dills is survived by his wife Lynne and four children.
Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117992277.html
--
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
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Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
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Bob Feigel
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings17-2008sep17,0,1218907.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Elmer Dills dies at 82; restaurant and travel critic on KABC
September 17, 2008
Elmer Dills, 82, a longtime restaurant and travel critic known for his
popular radio and television reports, died Monday at Pasadena's
Huntington Memorial Hospital, according to KABC-TV Channel 7, where he
dished out his reports on Southern California dining. The cause of
death was not specified.
Dills, a longtime Pasadena resident, developed his knowledge of food
and wine as an officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. He
entertained heads of state and other VIPs before leaving the
diplomatic service after more than 20 years.
In the early 1970s, Dills wrote restaurant reviews for the Los Angeles
Herald Examiner. Then, in 1975, he became the host of a KABC-AM (790)
radio talk show on dining and travel before becoming a KABC-TV
regular, reporting on area restaurants. He also did travel features
for the TV station, retiring a few years ago.
As a radio host, Dills read commercials for restaurants on his show,
which some critics considered a conflict of interest. He disagreed,
saying in a 1984 interview, "I will not accept a commercial until I
personally have evaluated the restaurant, and I actually reject about
70% to 80% of the restaurant commercials that come to the station."
Dills left KABC radio in 1996, had a stint at KMPC-AM (710), then was
the host of a show on KIEV-AM (870) -- now KRLA -- until 2006.
He moved the show to CRN Digital Talk Radio in 2007 before finally
calling it quits in January.
From Times Staff and Wire Reports