by
Bill Proctor, a fixture in the Detroit media for decades, is hanging it up after 33 years at WXZY-TV.
Proctor, who appeared at a gathering Friday night at the Anchor Bar in downtown Detroit for reporters who covered the Kwame Kilpatrick trial, announced that he was retiring on May 10. The 65-year-old newsman didn't say what he'll do next.
Proctor joined the station in May 1980 as a general assignment reporter.
According to his biography on WXYZ's site, Proctor received many awards over the years including the Outstanding Media Award in 1983 by Michigan's Crime Prevention Association, the Ed King Memorial Award and the Golden Quill Award in 1979.
A career highlight was coverage of a hostage crisis at the Bungalow Motel in Inkster in July 1987. "He was the first reporter to actually talk to [captive Alberta] Easter by phone during the standoff. Proctor secured a cease-fire where the police officers were being held," the website says.
Before joining WXYZ, he worked at KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh. He also worked at stations in Kansas City and Norfolk, Va.
Proctor, a native of D.C., was wearing a Washington National baseball cap Friday night. He and Miranda Proctor have three children and two grandchildren.
