Q: Hey Ace, longtime WVIR 29 news director Dave Cupp may have hightailed it out of town, but there are those of us who still miss him. I know he’s up in the Northeast and that he’s planning a new career in academia, but I want specifics! How’s he doing? Does he miss us? Is he ever coming back to town?—N. Ost-Algia
A: Oh, how could any of us forget, N., those rosy-hued days back when Cupp made his home at the anchor’s desk of our illustrious local NBC affiliate. Those facial hair makeovers—tears well up in Ace’s baby browns. Such is the power of nostalgia that Ace was truly shocked when the realization dawned that those good ole days aren’t even that far in the hallowed past. Cupp up and left this ‘burb, after 26 years on the job at WVIR, just two short months ago!
Longing for that smooth baritone, Ace gave the 55-year-old Cupp a buzz to talk shop and see when the hell the old man is rolling back through town. Turn’s out, he’s pretty happy where he is: Siberia. Make that Cambridge, Massachusetts (a.k.a. Nerd Central).
That’s right, Cupp’s aimlessly wandering the grounds of Emerson, Thoreau and Co., while his wife teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. For the last two and half years that Cupp was at WVIR, the couple enjoyed a commuter marriage, which—er—sounds like a piece of cake!
Luckily, aimless wandering keeps him busy. Aside from honing his goatee for academia, Cupp’s passing the time at Celtics games, “looking to get tickets to a Red Sox game, seeing the sights and visiting museums.” He also just accepted a role in a production of Wit. The great theatrical career continues… (In Charlottesville he played a newscaster in Return to the Forbidden Planet with the Heritage Repertory Theater, among other roles.)
However, the Cupps aren’t up in Cambridge for long. As soon as the weather gets good in Boston, the geniuses are headed back this-a-way for the oppressive humidity of a good Southern summer.
Yes, N., you read right. After Harvard graduation in June, the couple is moving to Durham, North Carolina. That’s where they’re building a house and where, in September, Cupp will begin that tenure-track gig as an assistant professor at
the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
While Cupp declined to elaborate on what his wife plans to do after Harvard, he said he’ll be teaching three courses: “Voice and Diction for Broadcast Journalists” and two sections of “Writing for the Electronic Media.”
But there’s no forgetting Charlottesville. Cupp’s hoping to be back here to host the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon at the beginning of June.
“I sure think about Charlottesville often,” Cupp says. “I sure do miss 29 and the wonderful people who work there.” Awww, shucks, Dave, that’s all we wanted to hear!