What's Your Favorite?

Beyond the set with KOLR 10 anchor Joy Robertson.

A word that often comes out of Joy Robertson’s mouth is fascinating. She uses it when she’s describing people or experiences or anything. She’s just so curious about everything. Roberston co-anchors three times a night, and many viewers feel they know her. It seems that Robertson would be more than happy to get to know those same people herself. She even claims, “I would love to host a ‘People-That-Don’t-Know-Each-Other-but-Should’ party.”
Robertson’s eagerness to learn about people shows in her recurring segment, “Personal Portraits,” in which she strips away all the pretensions of a television interview and only brings a camcorder. “If it’s just you and the other person, you get a real sense of the person,” she says. “They let their guard down. It’s like the person I’m talking to is looking right into the eye of the viewer. Our viewer truly sees what I see.”

In that work, Robertson has accumulated such varied experiences as hand-fishing in Arkansas with a man named Crowbar, being there when a boy first regained his hearing following a cochlear implant, and spending time with a woman receiving hospice care. For Robertson, these folks become “dear friends,” not just story sources.

Professionally, the reason she enjoys “Personal Portraits” is that she began her TV work on the production side. After getting her master’s degree at Mizzou, she managed to get an internship at ABC as Sam Donaldson’s personal intern. He encouraged her to be out in front of the camera. “I still get Sam to critique some of my stories,” says Robertson.

The person Robertson holds most dear is her husband, Vernie Fountain. He is a world-renowned expert in embalming and post-mortem reconstructive surgery. How’s that for fascinating? Perhaps through her pursuit of people that most fascinate her, Robertson has herself become most fascinating.

What’s Your Favorite…

Story you’ve done?
“I like them all. Maybe hand-fishing with Crowbar. There was not a bad thing about it. Or Donor Sibling Registry or Jean St. Clair going through hospice.”

Surprising on-air moment?
“When I was in Columbia, I had been to a home show, and they had the thing where you guess how much money is in a jar. I guessed it to the penny. They surprised me and brought me the jar with pennies, nickels and dimes at the end of the newscast. Also in Columbia, my dog sat under my desk during newscasts, and one night she started walking and pulled my chair.”

Thing about live broadcasts?
“The most fun are breaking news. I get an adrenaline rush from it. You have to get info, ad-lib and pitch it to reporters.”

Class at the J-School?
“Constitutional law. To hear the professor explain the FCC’s seven words you can’t say on TV. She would just rattle them off.”

Thing about being married to an embalmer?
“Meeting all the people that do what he does from around the world. He’s a great husband and a great dad, and he really believes in what he does.”

Thing about having the embalmment service located behind your house?
“It’s zoned properly. You can’t have a bed and breakfast, but you can have an embalming service.”

Place to eat in Springfield?
“I like to eat, so I have a lot of favorites. If I’m in a frou-frou mood, I like Clary’s or Bijan’s. I like the dollar menu at any drive-through. I like salad bars. I like anywhere that has crab cakes, seared tuna, sushi, little things with big flavor, odd combinations and The Cook’s Kettle.”

Thing about Sam Donaldson?
“Wicked sense of humor. The first day I met him, he had me rattle off all the Supreme Court Justices. So I asked him to name all the Rolling Stones. He did pretty well.”

Joy?
“I love the word enjoy.”

Ketchup?
“Fountain Ketchup from the Fountain Café in Sydney, Australia. We have even had friends send some of it to us.”

Bibliography format?
“None. I hate those things.”

Cat in your family?
“Emeril, she’s a sweetheart. Rachel Ray is a sweetheart, but she pees in all the wrong places. I’m not a cat person, so I don’t know how I ended up with them.”

Thing about your back patio?
“It is the place to be. Any given weekend night, there’s much uproarious laughter on the patio. I have the happiest and most-twisted kids.”

Pantsuit color?
“Red.”

Pantsuit brand?
“Whatever is on sale.”

Olsen twin?
“Those two scare me.”