In Memoriam: Dave Forstate

In television there are those you see in front of the camera, the name and face many people recognize. Then there are those behind the camera. The ones you don’t know or recognize when you see them in public. Dave Forstate was one of the latter group, but he was also someone who had nothing but respect by his colleagues who fall under the first group.

Forstate died this week after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. For 50 years he was a cameraman, or what is better described these days as a “photo journalist”, at KDKA-TV (2) and WQED (13). His colleagues at Channel 2 have been posting memories and condolences all over Facebook the last few days. He worked on the old Evening Magazine program as well as former feature reporter Dave Crawley.

Beth Dolinar who worked with Forstate at Channel 13, wrote a lovely tribute to him in her column in the Washington Observer-Reporter. We’ll let her take it from here.

Beth Dolinar: Mourning the loss of a colleague and friend