Larry Elliston

Larry didn't take the road less traveled, he paved his own. Since he got into the news business while at the University of South Florida in the late 60's, Larry has been a professional free spirit who has enjoyed every minute of his TV news and entertainment career.

Larry, a born story teller, started at WFLA-TV full time on New Year's Day, 1970 working the nightshift and weekends six days a week. He got into the business because he was impressed with the wide range of stories that could be told through the medium of television and that's what he's always done.

In addition to handling general assignment and beat reporting duties, he did live local news cut-ins during the morning "Today" program. Once he ran the gamut of news responsibilities at Channel 8, he was ready for the big time. He and his coworker pal, Phil Dean, jumped ship for WTVT.

After two years of reporting exclusively for WTVT's "Project 13," news director Hugh Smith cut him loose to chase his dreams of making news and features into works of art. He got so good, CBS began using his work nationally... so much so that the station eventually demanded a cut of his extra pay from the network.

His "Summer Shorts," "Assignment Florida," and "Down Home Florida" features became a staple of the evening Pulse News programs and won him awards and accolades throughout the television industry. They began with videos of distant happenings all over the State set to music and eventually included his crafty and clever dialogue... always with appropriate music in the background. He was Channel 13's resident Charles Kuralt.

A limited number of videos of his pieces were published by WTVT and instantly sold out but a few can still be found on Blockbuster Video shelves.

Larry left Channel 13 in 1992 and, after three years of freelance videography and producing, was named executive producer of "Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures," syndicated to more than 325 stations in all parts of the world. It's shown in Tampa Saturday afternoons on his old alma mater, WFLA.

These days he travels the globe with Hanna and crew, doing as many as thirty one-half hour shows. Whether it be on the Australian plains, the jungles of Africa or the mountain peaks of Alaska, Larry's hands-on approach to producing Hanna's shows... now in their eighth year... has proven that paving your own roads in life pays big rewards.

To top it off, Larry is one of the greatest guys you'll find in the business.