Brooks in last year's election

Former WPTV-Channel 5 general manager and Town of Palm Beach Councilman Bill Brooks underwent his third round of chemo this week.

The 75-year-old is suffering from lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes.

“The doctors are telling me they’re confident we can beat this thing,” Brooks said from his Seabreeze Avenue home Wednesday.

Because the treatment has lowered his immune system, he’s home-bound for the next two months.

Brooks, who left the Catholic priesthood in the 60s then married a former nun, Martha, now spends his days bathed in classical music, Beethoven and Mozart. He mostly reads books on history and spirituality.

“The first chemo (in late May) knocked me on my fanny,” said Brooks, one of the architects of Channel 5’s rise to one of the nation’s top-rated local stations. “But I’m a fighter. There’s no whining here. Like Nike says, ‘Just do it.’”

And Brooks, who lost this third reelection last year, says Canada Dry has replaced whisky and wine, both longtime staples of his diet.

“I haven’t had a drink since May 14, and to tell you the truth, I don’t feel like having one,” he said.

Brooks never suffered any serious illness in his life. But the announcement in May that he was sick made him contemplate the true meaning of humility.

“I realized that, no matter how many press clippings you have about the things you’ve done, that’s insignificant when it comes to mortality.

“But I’m calm about it. Very content.”

There’s been a lot of talk at Channel 5-WPTV about News Director Peter Roghaar’s new set of wheels, a shiny BMW 7 Series.

Not only is the 745 LI an environmentally unsound gas guzzler, with 20 mph on the highway at best, but the smooth German-engineered car retails for $80,000 these days.

And that’s the point staffers have noticed.

Roghaar has been tightening the budget screw inside the station, with layoffs that included star anchorwoman Laurel Sauer, reporter Jesse Chavez and even the husband of morning anchorwoman Roxanne Stein, 20-year production veteran Steve Moss. He’s taken away company cars and forced reporters to lug their own cameras instead of pairing them with photographers.  

And all this, while telling viewers to stretch their own budgets. (Read more…)