Profile of me in La Voz
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Brad Kava on the day that flood waters capsized his boat. This photo, taken by Craig Lee, was chosen for the cover of "The Year's Best Photos 1986."
Brad Kava: Journalist, Teacher, Music Lover, Darn Good Swimmer
By: Jay Donde
Posted: 1/21/08
Brad Kava, journalism instructor at De Anza College, still remembers the exact day he almost drowned on the job.
"It was Feb. 22, 1986. The water was freezing." He was reporting on flood rescue operations in Linda, California when the rising waters capsized his boat. "Instead of reporting on the rescue, we had to be rescued ourselves."
In 26 years of covering everything from crime in Florida to some of the biggest music acts in the world, Kava has seen his industry go through many ups and downs, but journalism has always remained a noble pursuit for him.
"My professor at Berkeley, Lacey Fosburgh, taught me that journalism was, as she put it 'a glorious calling - a way to bring light to the world.' She changed my life," Kava said.
After graduating as an English major from Hobart College in Geneva, New York, Kava was unsure what career he wanted to pursue.
"I worked as a forest ranger for a while, did some factory jobs, worked at a book publishing firm. Being a forest ranger was too outdoors for me, and the publishing job was too indoors. Then I sort of stumbled upon journalism, and it was the best of both worlds."
Soon after, as a graduate student at the Berkeley School of Journalism, Kava received the prestigious New York Times Internship, awarded to just one journalism student from the school per year.
As an intern for the Times, Kava covered stories as diverse as the first meeting of a Young Republicans chapter at Berkeley and a man who loaned out his goats to clear the brush from the Berkeley hills.
"They loved the stories that made California look weird and goofy."
After school, Kava was a crime reporter in Bradenton, Florida ("A real wild west town") and then in Kansas City, Missouri. He was also on the San Jose Mercury News team that won the Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Locally, however, Kava is best known as one of the top music journalists in the business.
"It could be stressful. I'd get 25 CDs in the mail everyday that I'd have to listen to, and cover something like 200 concerts a year. But the cool thing was getting to meet people first-hand. I've met almost anyone in rock and hip-hop you can think of, and before they were famous. I hung out with Snoop Dogg before anyone even knew who he was."
Kava has been able to channel this enthusiasm for journalism into his classes at De Anza. He encourages his students to view journalism as a way to "experience life and help shape the world. The press has the power and responsibility to help people, to look out for the little guy."
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