KJZZ

Legendary Phoenix television news anchor Bill Close has died at the age of 91.

STEVE GOLDSTEIN: Close worked for 29 years at Channel Ten in Phoenix — then known as KOOL — as news anchor and Vice President for News until he retired in 1993. Close’s former co-anchor Mary Jo West says he envisioned his viewers as a middle class couple named Mr. and Mrs. Jones.

MARY JO WEST: Mr. Jones was a fireman. Mrs. Jones worked at home with her children, her two children. She was a valued housewife and mother. And when we wrote the news, we wanted to make sure we wrote it in a language that they would understand — not writing down to the audience but just making sure it was very clear and accurate.

GOLDSTEIN: Close, known for sporting a bolo tie on-air, went into television after 18 years at Phoenix radio station KOY.