TV personality Doug Miller dies
Outdoors reporter was in broadcasting more than 30 years
Mr. Miller, 59, was admitted to a hospital around Aug. 1 in critical condition. According to a KUTV Web site, he had diverticulitis, a condition in which the colon develops pockets. In some cases, the pockets can become infected.
Mr. Miller worked in broadcasting for more than 30 years. While at KSL-TV and KUTV, he hosted an outdoor adventure series, "Outdoors with Doug Miller." He also made regular appearances on radio programs.
An Aug. 14 update on KUTV's Internet site said Mr. Miller had been in critical condition since he checked into the hospital about two weeks before. He had been being kept in a drug-induced coma while his body fought the infection.
Dave Phillips, KUTV general manager and Miller family spokesman, was quoted on the Web site as saying Mr. Miller had no idea he was so sick.
"He was in my office Monday morning, laughing about his last wild place he'd been to Friday," Phillips said. "He got feeling a little bad in the afternoon."
At that point, Mr. Miller called his wife and said he didn't feel well, according to Phillips. He went to the hospital that night.
During the KUTV Channel 2 newscast Sunday night, colleagues praised his reporting skill and sense of humor. Reece Stein, a fellow outdoors reporter, said of Mr. Miller's half-hour Saturday night program, "He made it look easy and he made it look fun." That's because he was having fun in outdoor adventures, and he showed viewers that having fun was important, according to his colleagues.
He loved wild places and wild things, they said, and at the time he entered the hospital he had a fishing trip planned.
Mr. Miller was described as a man with a commanding voice and a quick wit. Sometimes he would pull good-natured pranks on his colleagues, they added.
But he also was praised as a tough reporter who went after important stories wholeheartedly. "He was a bulldog" in pursuing outdoors news stories, Stein added.
He won important journalism awards throughout his long career.
Among his accomplishments was authoring a video, "Dutch Oven Cooking." He also hosted a huge outdoors exposition, the "Doug Miller-International Sportsman's Expo," at South Towne Expo Center, Sandy.
Mr. Miller graduated from the University of Arkansas, began his broadcasting career in his hometown of El Dorado, Ark., and later called Razorback football games for local radio.
In 1977, he moved to Utah, where he later became morning anchor for KSL Radio and then news director.
Mr. Miller became KSL television's sports director in 1989. He later moved to KUTV.
Contributing: Associated Press
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