It was May eleventh two thousand eleven when our group, Group 2, interviewed the lively Dave Jennett. He is a humble and gentle man, eighty-five years old and has had an amazing life. Our group’s angle was to talk to him about his career in the radio and television business and his moral values and ethics.
He grew up in Newark New Jersey in a lower to middle class home. He always had a knack and passion for mechanics and music. A shy individual, Dave was afraid of people when he was young, you would never have guessed it talking to him now. He went to a boy’s technical high school after being told he could never make it through a traditional high school, at age seventeen enrolled in the Navy and never completed his schooling. After getting out of the Navy he married in nineteen fifty and in nineteen fifty-two went to work for General Instruments prototyping metal models of various appliances. Two years later he left the company and started his own, as a television repairman. He also began to install TV antennas and was known by his cousin and other coworkers as “The Gorilla” because Dave would climb roofs to install the antennas. He continued working in New Jersey for more than a decade until he and his wife relocated to Los Angeles.
Dave moved to LA in nineteen sixty nine where he worked for a company run my a man named John Cade Keif in Beverly Hills as a repairman and joined the Song Makers Group to satisfy his musical desires, he plays the guitar and harmonica and sings. He repaired many appliances for celebrity clients including Don Knotts, Don Rickles, Milton Berle, Stella and Anthony Stevens, Kate Jackson, Raquel Welch and Linda Evans. In nineteen seventy-three he left the company and started his own fix it business. Through Linda Evan’s husband, Stan Herman, Dave began to gain clientele and eventually was offered a spot on the KABC radio network. On his radio spot he advised callers on the proper way to fix their appliances. He was so dedicated to helping these people that after the two hour show he would sit in an office at the radio station and continue to take calls and in some cases would travel to callers houses to help them with their fix. One year later he was approached to star on a morning show as a Mr. Fix It personality. Dave recalls his two-year stint on the “Alive and Well” morning show hosted by Joanne Carson, Johnny Carson’s ex-wife. He showed her step by step how to fix a leaky faucet and when she finished she was proud of herself and excited that she could handle the task. Dave mentions that women make better mechanics then men because men are more afraid of failure. Over the years he appeared on hundreds of talk shows, mainly morning shows. He has also been on the Regis Philbin and Dave Lettermen shows as Mr. Fix It. None of these TV appearances have gone to his head.
Dave never believed in advertising or soliciting for his business. He felt it was wrong and didn’t mesh with his values. All of his work came by word of mouth and those people who knew him from the radio; he felt he had to be ethical because he was getting business from the show. He believes very strongly in being honest and truthful. As a testimonial to his values and ethics he has never in his sixty five year career been summoned to small claims court, unlike many other mechanics and repairmen. He recalls every time he went to a parts or hardware store all of the repairmen would be talking about their court dates. He imparted this wisdom onto his vocational school students when he would substitute teach.
Fifteen to twenty years ago Dave was encouraged to get his General Educational Development (GED) certificate in order to receive his teaching credentials. He didn’t want to take the GED test so he bypassed it and managed to receive his teaching credentials in three weeks time, with out a GED or high school diploma. On top of this amazing accomplishment his IQ was rated at a genius level. He began substitute teaching at vocational and trade high schools similar to the one he attended in his teen years. He taught auto mechanics, auto painting, electrical skills and diesel repair skills along with refrigeration and air conditioning repair. He had the desire to teach and show these students how these tasks were done and through that gave these kids incentive to make something of themselves. He would say “The small claims court is full of people trying to take advantage of other people and it wasn’t so with me… I don’t give it and I don’t take it.” If a client isn’t appreciative of his honest desire to help them he packs his toolbox and walks away.
As our interview with Dave came to a close I myself had a burning question to ask, “What advice do you have for students graduating from college and entering the workforce?”
Dave answered, “ You have to know your abilities and if they satisfy you truthfully then make use of them.”
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