HHI man remembers former colleague Mike Wallace | News

By Evan Johnson - bio | email

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC (WTOC) - Mike Wallace from CBS's '60 Minutes' died at age 93 on April 7. The man known for his tough approach and his unique style of interviewing is still being remembered, especially by John Sippel of Hilton Head Island, who knew Wallace by his real first name, Myron.

"I got to know Myron Wallace, as he was known in those days," Sippel said.

Sippel worked in Chicago as an entertainment reporter for Billboard Magazine in the 1940s. At the same time, a young Wallace worked as a local broadcaster and interviewed Sippel several times.

"He would interrogate me about the various shows I'd seen during that week."

Sippel says it wasn't all work and no play for the two young men in their 20's, as they would kick back together every now and again.

Sippel said, "We would go to a restaurant called Pixley and Ehlers and we got to be good friends. I wouldn't say we were great personal friends, but we discussed our problems."

But eventually the two men lost connection. Years later, Sippel saw his friend Myron Wallace appear on '60 Minutes' as the show's first correspondent under the name Mike Wallace.

"It was amazing to me the first time I saw him on '60 minutes'. I hadn't heard from the guy. I didn't know what he was doing. I supposed he was on local and regional television across the USA. From the day he got on I don't think there was a better reporter," Sippel exclaimed.

Those are the same feeling Sippel shares with many others in the broadcast industry who hail Mike Wallace as one the most important figures in the history of television news.

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