36 | NOVEMBER 19 • 2020 

I

n his recently released memoir 
and Amazon bestseller Enough 
to Be Dangerous, Mort Meisner, 
president of a TV news talent agen-

cy and PR agency in Royal Oak, 
dishes about his career as a concert 
promoter — promoting acts such 
as Kiss and Bruce Springsteen while 
attending Oak Park High School — 
and his TV news career, growing up 
in an abusive household and over-
coming a cocaine addiction.
The book has garnered great 
reviews — well deserved. It’
s a fun 
dive into the experiences of a larger-
than-life character who takes the 
reader on a no-holds-barred and 
honest ride through his 43-year 
career in broadcast news, which 
began at WXYZ-ABC in Detroit, 
took him to major network sta-
tions in Chicago and St. Louis, and 
concluded at Detroit’
s WJBK Fox 2 
News.
Many faces familiar to Detroit 
TV viewers were mentored and/or 
represented by Mort: at Channel 7 
(including Glenda Lewis, Jennifer 
Schanz and Diana Lewis), and at 
Channel 2 (Taryn Asher). He also 
helped bring popular anchor Huel 
Perkins to Fox 2 News.
“One of the reasons I wrote this 

book is to expose what happens 
behind closed doors in the media,
” 
he said.
Prior to the book’
s release, Mort 
blogged about many times in his 
career when he witnessed female 
co-workers endure sexist behavior 
from their male colleagues, and 
Black co-workers were shut out 
of job opportunities by high-level 
white men. He said that TV news 
managers would use offensive labels 
for black male reporters, calling 
them “garbagemen” and assigning 
them the worst stories.
“Unfortunately, the racism and 
sexism that I witnessed during the 
’
80s and ’
90s are still a problem in 
some newsrooms,
” he added.
He also writes about getting 
addicted to cocaine along the way. 
“I pissed away a lot of money and a 
$100K a year job. Am I ashamed? 
No, but I was. Do I have guilt? No, 
but I did,
” he said. “Because of my 
drug addiction, I met people I oth-
erwise would not have met, includ-
ing my best friend in Texas and a 
guy I have coffee with every day.
”

ARTS&LIFE
ON THE COVER

Mort Meisner battled 
childhood poverty, 
addiction and loss 
of faith to become a 
TV news kingmaker.

JACKIE HEADAPOHL ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Spotlight

From the
Shadows

to 
the

continued on page 38

COURTESY OF MORT MEISNER

Mort with his parents while he was 

at WLS (ABC in Chicago) in 1983.