Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 14

MetroState PAGE B2 STAR TRIBUNE MONDAY, JUNE 30 1997 Former sportscaster eel 3b Scries amid ssdnsss Tom Ryther finds comfort in sharing victory over KARE with dying father journalism is the way to win viewer loyalty. Even in losing, one of the clear messages that Gannett sent to any potential litigants is that winning against a huge corporation is not easy. "I have faith in the legal system," Ryther said. "But it lumbers along and it favors the rich because they can wear you down. It's amazing.

They Gannett could have setded. We'd say, 'Give us $300,000 and we'll walk But they were arrogant. They said, 'See you in Ryther and KARE saw each other in many courtrooms over the years. Many of those years were very lean for Ryther, including one in which he said he made only $8,000 as he bounced through a variety of jobs. His efforts to get back into television, he said, were consistently rebuffed.

"I was blackballed," he said. Friday, victory finally came. But on the day of triumph, Ryther was planning his father's funeral, which will be held in his parents' hometown, Dixon, Mo. He told stories of how his dad had been a basketball star in the 1930s and he told more stories of his father's exploits on golf courses. "I couldn't beat him at golf until he was 78," Ryther said.

He laughed a little, he cried a little. "I'm dedicating this victory to my parents," Ryther said. "They raised one tough cookie." fallen off of it." The triumph over Gannett is major. It may mean that more TV news and sports anchors will grow old before our eyes. Gannett had battled Ryther so hard because it had insisted that for competitive reasons the industry must be able to replace television talent based on market surveys.

Roback had countered that KARE had not used balanced research in deciding to dump Ryther. In the most celebrated case of its kind, a 1985 case involving Kansas City TV news anchor Christine Craft, the courts had been sympathetic to the industry. Craft had convinced a jury she'd been fired for age discrimination, but had lost in the appeals process. Throughout the appeals process in Ryther's case, there had been at least some federal judges sympathetic to Gannett, which had argued that TV news and sports anchors are paid large sums of money because their careers are so precarious. (In his last years at KARE, Ryther said that including benefits, he was paid more than $200,000 a year.) "I was getting calls from all over the country from people in the business telling me to hang in there," said Ryther, who is planning to write a book about his trials, travails and eventual triumph.

Although his victory now is complete, it surely won't slam the door on age discrimination in an industry that doesn't believe that simply delivering sound Thomas W. Ryther, had been fading since suffering a severe heart attack in December. "I went in my father's room and I was smiling," Ryther said. "I held his hand and squeezed it and said, 'Dad, And he looked up at me and said, 'We Two hours later, Thomas W. Ryther was dead at age 85.

As we talked Friday night, Ryther was switching back and forth between telling stories of his relationship with his pop, a relationship filled with sports triumphs, and his triumph over KARE and Gannett. "This is so strange," he kept saying. "One minute, I was crying tears of jubilation. The next thing, I'm crying tears of sadness. One minute, I felt I was on top of Mount Everest; the next I felt like I'd gone on to explain that the U.S.

Supreme Court had decided not to deal with the age-discrimination suit he'd brought against KARE-TV, Channel 11, and its parent company, Gannett. Ryther, a sportscaster who'd been fired by KARE in 1991, first had won against KARE in federal court in 1993, a year after his mother died. But KARE kept appealing and losing, all the way to the Supreme Court. KARE has run out of places to appeal. Roback's call meant Ryther's long quest was over.

In the judicial process, the one-time high school pitching star finished with a 5-0 record. He's been told a check for more than $1.4 million will be written today. After Roback's call, Ryther rushed to the nursing home, where his father, 1 v. PRIDE from Bl Festival for marks 25th The Gay Men's chorus strolled under a canopy of umbrellas, singing, "We shall not give up the fight we have already started." The AIDS Emergency Fund carried a giant rainbow flag, exhorting all watchers to toss donations into the flag, already covered with change and damp bills. A group called Out Families With Kids trailed by, waiting, then rushing back for dawdling children.

PFLAG Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays walked as a battalion. Groups from the Twin Cities, southern Minnesota, and St. Cloud and Northfield, Wisconsin's Chippewa Valley and South Dakota carried banners. Representatives of several metro-area churches marched, one after the other, bearing signs of acceptance and welcome. They were joined by gay-oriented college groups.

Members of the University of Minnesota's gay fraternity had Goldie Gopher, the university's mascot, Doug Grow It was Friday night, 10 hours after Tom Ryther had learned he'd at last won his final round in court and six hours after his father had died. The emotions were flowing jubilation and sadness and combinations of the two. "I don't want to sound corny," Ryther was saying, "but I knew my dad wasn't going to last too much longer. For the last few days, every night, I was on my knees praying. I'm not a real religious man, but I believe in God and I believe in Jesus Christ and I was praying, 'Let my father live long enough so that he knows we Ryther's prayers were answered.

At 10 a.m. Friday, the 59-year-old Ryther had received a telephone call from his attorney, Donna Roback. "We won!" he'd heard her say. She'd FUNKLEY from Bl A last call for little town that has lost its only business: a bar The Funkley bar has a storied history striptease mecca in the 1970s, a country-music magnet in the '80s, onetime town hall polling place, always a watering hole for hunters and has had a long series of owners. McLean and her late husband, Wayne, even owned it for eight years.

"We had to sell it after my husband got sick," she said. "It's always been a heck of a bar." The most recent owner swept in from out of state last July, poured money into it, spruced it up and even erected a new sign. But he was forced to close after getting $8,000 behind in sales taxes to the state, McLean said. "You betcha that's real money, and any new owner's going to have to pay that before he reopens," she said. The current owner, who lives outside of town, couldn't be reached because he doesn't have a listed phone number.

A big "For Sale" sign hasn't lured any prospective buyers yet. When the city's options ran out along with the money, McLean contacted the League of Minnesota Cities to find out how one goes about dissolving Funk-ley. It most likely entails holding an election. "It doesn't look easy," she said. "We may even need to get a lawyer." If it happens, the city's identity will fade back into Hornet Township, no longer honoring the memory of Henry Funkley, an attorney who long ago practiced 30 miles down the road in Bemidji.

As the city faces its final bust, the truth is, it never enjoyed much of a boom. The population topped out at 60 during the Depression, when Funkley was a hub for nearby logging camps. It had a couple of stores, two hotels and a few saloons. The city's biggest asset has been its smallness. In 1953, 16 of 18 Funkleyans were flown to New York City to reward them for their work to help cancer sufferers.

In 1989 WCCO Radio brought all but three of 17 residents to the Twin Cities to show off the denizens of the state's smallest town. ii)X(iSifiM Funkley helping smallest ney, hamlet did New York in 1953, when 16 of 18 residents were flown to the Big Apple as a reward for cancer victims. Funkleyans got another free trip in 1989, albeit to the Twin Cities. File photo their work in gays and lesbians year in Minneapolis marching at their side. The Gay 90's nightclub rented a flatbed truck, which sagged and bounced violently with the rhythm of more than a dozen bodies.

Outwoods, a gay-oriented outdoors club, had a precision paddle drill team with bright pink paddles. Behind the parade, a horde of people came over the Hennepin Avenue bridge from downtown and dispersed into the festival. Informational booths were interspersed with vendors selling jewelry, T-shirts and junk. As the rain let up, Ken Gross and Jim Fifielski, of Minneapolis, walked on the Riverplace side of the festival. They've been to many Pride Festivals, and this is the 13th one they've attended as partners.

"It's a real sense of community, a sense of belonging, pride and equality," Gross said. "It's a good feeling to be able to walk hand in hand with the person you love and have devoted your life to." Qothing Shoes 4734667 Moo thru Fri 9 to 9 Sat 9 to 6 In 1974 the population swelled to 22 (a new couple moved to town and had a baby after the sign was put up). Funkley's boom came during the Depression, when 60 souls Inhabited the hamlet and enjoyed two stores, two hotels and a few saloons. Star Tribune File Photo by John Croft 1 MWMfc. Call about our Minnemizer Plus Most installations within 24 hours (weekends in metro area) 3 months interest-free financing 10-year 100 replacement warranty 01997 Minnagasco '-4' 1 ff.

AMfliti nnw 'ii iH'V However, at the time the peted with Funkley as the tiny- may forever be far Minnesota city was Ten- town titleholder. Tenney these days a west-central Minnesota Now, even if Funkley some- tionofour. that has perennially com- how survives, it looks like the title out of reach: has a popula- SAVE 20 to 30 on selected groups items Ladies Children Men Tall Big Men Family Shoes SAVE NOW! B33I Club Extra members, light up the coals. Because now you can save 50 on a 10-lb. box oF'Simek's Famous" Thick and Lean Burgers and serve 'em up hot off the grill on the Fourth.

Reg. price is $26.99, Club Extra price, $13.49. Serve our 7-Layer Bars for dessert. Reg. $9.99 for an 8" tray, Club Extra price, $4.99.

Offer expires 7697 or when supplies run out. Look for details and an exclusive coupon on page 2 of yesterday's MetroState section. ill IMiq ALL MEN'S SUITS SLACKS SPORT COATS ON SALE ft SCE30 Club Extra customers Club Extra Tliis See For i IIL- Check out our new Star Tribune Home Service Directory in the Classifieds section. Starllbuns It's where you live. Yesterday's Paper A Meaty Offer.

THE Family If 03L2TQ WaYZATA BAY CENTER is a program exclusively for long-term, home-delivery of the Star Tribune For more information, call me St2T Hot Line at (612) 673-9090. (Outside the metro area, call 1 800 745 4308.) "5.