Then, the big surprise. Taff recalled a Davison (Mich.) school board election in the early 1970s, when he was anchoring and doing commentary on Flint television. Taff said: "Michael Moore, 17, with the amazing mind we see today, was elected to the board. But it wouldn't seat him because of his age, though nothing in the rules demanded that. So my commentary said, 'We'll be on you, until you seat him.'
"The next day I got a call from a little bitty voice. It was Mike, asking if he could come down and shake my hand. I said, 'sure,' and three carloads of kids showed up. Mike and the rest were intensely curious about learning news and how to use film. For a year and a half, twice a week, they showed up. He'd grown up around United Auto Workers feeling sorry for themselves, and he said, 'I'm going to show the world.'
"One day, years later, he was filming in Milwaukee, and I asked him if he remembered me. He introduced me to the group around him as 'the man who taught me to have courage.' I wish I'd taught him to have a little more balance."
Quite a story, but it demanded verification. A couple of days later I got it, from Moore.
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http://www.jsonline.com/enter/tvradio/jul04/245317.asp