Gil Noble died Thursday, April 5. Gil Noble was 80 years old and he was the founding producer and host of WABC-TV’s former weekly public affairs series; “Like It Is.”
In his 1981 memoir, Black is the Color of My TV Tube, Noble wrote that Malcolm X “taught me the cold, brutal facts of the Black existence in this country. He told me who I am, and I have kept that knowledge with me ever since, even as I walk down the corridors of ABC wearing a smile.”
Noble was the recipient of more than 650 community awards, numerous industry awards including seven Emmys, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, and five honorary doctorates.
April Silver, founder and president of Akila Worksongs Inc. said: “We owe a great deal of gratitude to Mr. Noble for ‘Like It Is,’ more than I can articulate at this moment. My most sincere prayers are up for his family and his friends.”
News director Bob Slade of WRKS (98.7 FM) noted that “Like It Is” was the last regular public affairs show in local mainstream media with a focus on black affairs, politics, music and culture.
“Gil Noble’s life and work had a profound effect on our society and culture,” said Dave Davis, WABC-TV president and general manager. “His contributions are a part of history and will be remembered for years to come. Today, our hearts are with Gil’s family — his wife Jean and their five children — and we thank them for so lovingly sharing him with the world all these years.”
“The African community has lost one of its most humble, most noble and brightest stars,” said Bernard White, a friend and former program director of WBAI (99.5 FM). “I see his passing as the end of an important era of black progressive, uncompromising electronic journalism.”
