Wanna know the best piece of advice that I ever got as a journalist? Always carry a tape recorder. I got that tip from NBC-10’s Edie Huggins when I was a young reporter working for the Philadelphia Tribune. She was being honored as “Communicator of the Year” by the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Women in Radio and Television and I had been sent to cover the story.

As I was interviewing her, taking furious notes and trying to keep up and quote her accurately, Huggins stopped the interview and asked me, “Where’s your tape recorder?”

When I responded that I didn’t have one, she went on to tell me why it would be in my best interest to have a tape recorder and I’d better have one the next time she saw me on an assignment.

Because she had been on television since I was two and had forgotten more about journalism than I had learned yet, I took her advice. After that, I made sure every time I saw her, Miss Edie saw my tape recorder. I also made sure she knew I also had extra batteries and extra tapes so I wouldn’t get caught off guard.
On Tuesday, Edie Huggins passed away after a long illness. It was a piece of bad news many of us knew was coming because the word was she was sick and her prognosis wasn’t good.

But it still hit like a punch in the gut. Getting the news people that you like and respect are gone is like that.

Before Edie Huggins, Black women didn’t exist on Philadelphia’s news airwaves.
When she decided to change careers (she was a registered nurse) in 1966, she became the first. She was part of the late John Facenda’s news team and was also a co-host with Herb Clark on the show “What’s Happening?” She later got her own news and public affairs show “Morningside” and interviewed a whole host of people during her career.

Edie Huggins was also very involved in a group that I later became part of, the National Association of Black Journalists. I used to see her at conventions every year and although she didn’t have to take the time to acknowledge me and other newbie journalists at these things, she always did. I liked that about her. She was classy and always willing to help.

In 2005, Edie Huggins became one of the first recipients of The Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists’ Trailblazer award. She was also given the organization’s Lifetime Achievement award earlier this year and was a member of the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame.

She leaves behind a son, Hastings Edward, a Complex Engagement Manager with IBM and a daughter, Laurie Linn, a National Television Producer in Los Angeles and a Marketing Specialist for Broadcast Advertising in Baltimore and Philadelphia.

But Edie Huggins also leaves behind a lot of folks who have followed in her footsteps as Black, female television news reporters here in Philadelphia. Were it not for her and Trudy Haines, you might not see women like Monique Braxton, Joyce Evans, Denise James and Mary Stoker Smith on Philadelphia’s airwaves.
Or for that matter, you might not be reading the words of a former Tribune cub reporter who might not have lasted in the newspaper business for 16 years without the insight gained from one simple question: “Where’s your tape recorder?”

Edie Huggins gave me the best piece of advice I ever got as a journalist. It’s advice I’ll always appreciate and that I’m not sure I ever properly thanked her for.
Miss Edie, please consider this column my thank you. I think I speak for a lot of us when I say you’ll be missed.