Longtime WSB-TV reporter Don McClellan remembered by former anchors John Pruitt, Monica Pearson

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Georgians are remembering a local television icon. Former Channel 2 reporter Don McClellan died Sunday morning at the age of 88 after his battle with Parkinson’s disease.

If you grew up in Atlanta, you couldn’t turn on your television without seeing McClellan on Channel 2 Action News.

A native of East Tennessee, McClellan joined WSB-TV back in 1960 and paved the way for a new generation of broadcast journalists like John Pruitt and Monica Pearson.

“He taught me. He was my mentor. The first day I was at WSB in 1964, Don McClellan was the one who showed me around the station," Pruitt told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot.

“When I first came to WSB in 1975, it was Donnie Mac who literally taught me the pronunciation so that people wouldn’t realize I was a newcomer. He was great for that,” Pearson told Elliot.

For more than 50 years, McClellan developed a reputation for being an exceptional journalist. He taught those values to others.

"He was a man who was fair. He knew how to cover a story. He taught me to be aggressive when I needed to be, but always to be fair, always get the other side.

McClellan retired in 2008 but that didn’t stop him from reporting. Most folks remember his coverage of the AJC Peachtree Road Race and carrying his own camera for miles. He was an avid runner himself, participating in more than 100 marathons worldwide.

The Georgia Association of Broadcasters inducted McClellan inducted him into its Hall of Fame 10 years ago.

Just two years ago, doctors diagnosed him with Parkinson’s disease. The first thing he did was go on TV to talk about it. That’s just what McClellan did. He was a journalist

“There will never be another reporter like him. He was the best.”

Cox Media Group