While that situation had a positive outcome, others have left deeper impressions.
Pinner was able to talk the man off the bridge safely by promising him some help. Initially Pinner was told no, but was then told the man wanted to see Mr. Pinner stopped at the bridge and asked a police officer if there was anything he could do. While driving to a function one Friday, he heard about a man threatening to jump off the Gervais Street bridge. While working in media has given Pinner the opportunity to meet many people, it has also put him in some odd situations. It’s something that just happened, and it’s very pleasant.” “It’s nice to have the dual personalities so to speak. Knozit, otherwise known as Joe Pinner,” Pinner said. “I’m sure wherever I’m buried I’ll be memorialized as Mr. Knozit aired from 1963-2000, and Pinner became as well known for his persona as the show’s host as he did for his work on WIS’s newscast. Bob Hope and Ed Sullivan were also Peabody Award winners that year. Pinner attended the awards show in New York. It thrived and won the Peabody Award in 1967. When those cartoons went into syndication and became expensive to air, WIS decided to let the show stand on its own. Knozit.”Īt first, the show started out showing different cartoons like Looney Toons, Popeye, and Woody Woodpecker. Wizard, where he talked about the world and music, among other subjects.Īfter thinking of different names for the show, Pinner and WIS officials settled on” Mr. Instead he wanted to host a show similar to Mr. Pinner had interest but didn’t want to wear a costume or makeup. At the time, WIS was looking for a way to do more business with a local distributor and felt more television content would accomplish that goal. Shortly after joining WIS in May of 1963, he was asked to do a children’s show. Four years later, he got an offer from WIS and returned to South Carolina’s capital city. However, Pinner left the Army a year later and returned to Jacksonville to work in radio. “Columbia is a great town and getting even better.”Įven though he was enlisted in the Army, Pinner lived in Eau Claire, which he credits with helping him adjust to the civilian life quicker. The move introduced him to a city he would later call home for over five decades. He also worked for WNOK seven days a week. While there, he worked as a manager for the Fort Jackson radio station, WFJX. In 1958, Pinner enlisted in the Army and was stationed at Fort Jackson. While living in Jacksonville, Pinner met his wife, Peggy, who was a singer for a state-wide program. Living with his aunt and uncle, Jacksonville residents, also helped. Pinner said it was a natural transition from radio to television, except for the makeup. His work in radio continued in college where he worked for WCHL in Chapel Hill.Īfter one year at the University of North Carolina, Pinner returned home and went back to WHIT until he received an offer to work in television in Jacksonville, Fla. He first got behind a microphone at 15 when a friend invited him to work at WMBL in New Bern, North Carolina during the summer.
At the time television was just starting out. Pinner knew at the age of nine he wanted to get into radio. “I have autographs from hundreds of people and a ton of experiences.” “Any journalist would love to have been in my shoes and to have met as many people as I have over the years,” Pinner said. For longtime personality Joe Pinner, he continues to live out a dream he first had as a child. There are fewer fulfilling things in life than achieving one’s dream.