Boise community feels loss of KTVB’s Larry Gebert. Do good and have an impact, as he did

In one’s life, there are experiences that are hard to bear. I lack the words to express the magnitude of loss we, as a community, are experiencing with the unexpected passing of Larry Gebert.

I had just begun my career as a motivational speaker in the late 1990s when Larry and I became friends. I had watched him give the KTVB-TV morning weather reports from different places with unique themes and for myriad causes. I called and told him that I work on my backyard garden without shoes, and working that way inspired my speeches and writing, and was great for reflections.

That was it. Larry told me when he would come. Just before 4 a.m., the weather van was at my driveway on the day he had promised to come. During breaks or news time, Larry would ask me about my life in Africa, Wyoming and Idaho. He had something that connected my experiences with his as he was growing up in Montana.

Larry shared with his loyal viewers of his weather reports my story, and told them that I was a motivational speaker and author. He introduced me to the community, and in the process, he became my destiny connector. Organizations invited me to speak at their functions, and some of his viewers had me tell folktale stories at children’s birthday parties. Larry had connected me with them. They trusted him.

His knack of storytelling is not an exaggeration. Larry made you experience what he was talking about. If his story involved a big dog, you imagined a lion. With his water-skiing stories, you saw him going in a horizon-less blue ocean in your imagination — even if he was at Lucky Peak.

Larry’s sense of humor naturally invited you to leave the cares of this world, albeit momentarily. His laughter was contagious. But what made Larry a magnet, pulling others to him, was how he valued people. In his presence you felt invited and valued, and that you mattered.

Only eternity will reveal the full impact of Larry’s caring spirit, and the lives of people and animals — and whatever else — he transformed after featuring them in his morning reports. Just name the cause, and Larry was there letting you promote it.

Can we ever forget the Polar Bear Challenge he so devotedly championed for year after year? I confess, I always thought about doing it. But imagining the icy water on my hot-climate body, I chickened out — and promised myself to do it next year.

I wish I would have put into practice my belief that I am not promised tomorrow for my procrastination. Larry will not be here when I eventually gather the courage do it.

Our community has lost a connector, an invaluable asset for all things humanitarian. A destiny connector. Larry was a gift to all of us.