As you probably know, I work in an extremely competitive business. We fight to scoop each other, to steal viewers from one another, to win. But the truth is, if you've been around for a while and you've been through the fires with each other, you end up not only respecting your competition, you become friends with whom you share a special bond. One such friend is retiring soon and I wanted you to know what a superb journalist he has been.

Tonight, friends of the great Bob Long, Vice President and News Director at KNBC-TV will gather at Bob's favorite restaurant/watering hole (he has one in every city) to hoist a few in his honor, to lament the bean counters who are killing us, and to laugh. 

The late Hunter S. Thompson once famously described TV news like this: The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.

Sadly, Thompson was right. But what Thompson didn't know, was there have always been good men and women who have stood up to the thieves and pimps in this business. Bob was in the vanguard of that group. Like any good Marine (which he was), Semper Fi--always faithful--is the code by which he lives. It is the code by which he practices journalism. It is the code by which he protects his people. It is the code by which he treats his friends.

I had the good fortune to work with Bob and to learn from Bob in the 1990s when I was a young reporter at KCAL-TV and Bob was an executive producer. At KCAL, he was a bow-tie wearing, gravel-voiced, old-school tough guy who didn't suffer fools. But if you cared to do it the right way, and you listened to what the old man had to say, he was going to back you up every time. He was and remains as loyal to his friends and to his grunts as any right Marine would. 

Turn on the news on virtually any channel in Los Angeles, and you'll find reporters and anchors who experienced the tutelage of Bob Long. When I talked to him on the phone this week, he described them as his "sleeper cells, ready to burst out of their holes at The Enlightenment" to take back the industry and restore the proper order. It was said in classic "Bob Long speak," an always amusing blend of history-lesson, irony, humor and poetry. A good turn of phrase, a well-written sentence--words--matter to Bob and he inspired a generation of TV news journalists to care about them as much as he does.

And now this larger than life character who we've worked with and respected and loved is leaving. Bob Long retires at the end of this month. The day after he walks out of the newsroom, he boards a plane bound for his next assignment, in Turkey. He has agreed to an appointment at a university in Istanbul to teach journalism ethics. To those students, I say, you couldn't have a better teacher. 

Thanksgiving Day has always been a special day to me. I'm blessed in so many ways and it's an important day to remind myself of that. It's also a day for great eats! Love the turkey, the gravy, the pie. Love the football on the TV. Love spending the day with friends and family.

This year, I'll be on the air with you in the morning with our traditional "Turkey Phone Bank" show--call us if you have any questions on how to cook your bird!We'll have chefs on hand to answer your questions. Eric Spillman will visit a few homes to see how folks are doing in their kitchens.

Later, the Buckley family will enjoy dinner with our friends, the Lachmans, who were kind enough to accept our invitation when we...invited ourselves over! On Friday, we'll head down to San Diego for a basketball tournament and enjoy the weekend with my parents who will join us there.

In short, it'll be a great weekend and I'll be giving thanks for all of it on Thanksgiving Day. On that day, I will also no doubt think back to one particular Thanksgiving Day from about 20 years ago when I was working as a reporter in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that wasn't so wonderful.

I was still single and had just started working in North Carolina. I hardly knew a soul there and of course, I had to work the holiday. I was with a photographer who couldn't have been more depressed about working the holiday and while I started the day trying to think positive--it was tough given the company. We ended up eating pressed turkey at a Shoney's Restaurant for our Thanksgiving meal and then I went home to an empty apartment. I felt pretty blue by the time I went to bed.

I think about that memory because I suspect some of you may find yourself alone on a day when everyone else seems to be celebrating with family and friends. It can turn what's supposed to be a wonderful day, into a sad one. My advice? Go to your local shelter, your local church, your local food bank or senior center and pitch in. Last year, I spent just a couple of hours at the Los Angeles Mission helping to feed folks on the day before Thanksgiving and it was incredibly satisfying. You'll be surrounded by people, you'll be doing a great thing for your fellow man, you'll make a friend or two. And speaking of good works on Thanksgiving--I wanted to recommend a great program that will air on Thursday evening at 6 P.M. on CNN.

My old pals at CNN invited me to a taping of the program last weekend called "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute." It was shot at the Kodak Theater like a big-deal awards program and hosted by Anderson Cooper. There were musical guests like Alicia Keyes and John Legend. Presenters included Cameron Diaz and Hugh Jackman. But these awards weren't given to fellow celebrities and stars. The honorees were "ordinary people" who've made an "extraordinary impact" through their volunteer efforts. Among the recipients--a Los Angeles nanny, Marie Da Silva, who lost 14 family members to AIDS and now funds a school in her native Malwai for children orphaned by the disease. It's moving stuff and the kind of program that makes one think about all the need out there and all the folks who are giving so much of themselves to fill those needs. If you can't catch it on Thursday, I recommend it for your TIVO list.

Happy Thanksgiving.