Hank Stack

At Allemande the Rio Grande, 1985

Henry Leo Stack
18 Aug 1917 - 31 Jul 2002

Clubs & Associations

Quick Facts

prfoundly deaf since age six
was a sign language interpreter on Portland's KGW TV for over 30 years (one of the first in the country.)
co-wrote a handbook on sign language for square dance calls. File:Signed calls.pdf

In Their Own Words

Oregon deaf persons watch TV 'voice'
PORTLAND (UPI) —not only to KGW but to a Little Rock, Ark., station which uses a signed newscast. A videotape of the Little rock broadcast convinced KGW officials on the idea but they changed the presentation to give the signer the spotlife and the tape in a voice background,>br> Every weekday morning nearly 4,000 Oregonians have a chance to literally watch the voice of the news of a Portland television station.
They must watch it and its commentator, or "signer" as he is called because they are deaf.
Since January, an almost totally deaf man, Henry Stack, has been using sign language to give the 8:25 a.m. newscast for KGW-TV. The five-minute uninterrupted telecast is the first daily news program for the deaf in Oregon and one of four on the West coast.
Stack, 54, alnmost totally deaf since six years of age, first approached the station with the idea a year ago. The former teacher of the deaf at Gaullaudet College in Washington, D.C. had always wanted to watch the news, but hd never been able to hear it. Even his lip reading abilities and 40 percent hearing in one ear couldn;t pick up the words of the fast talking announcers.
His desire to understand the news led to more writing—not only to KGW but to a Little Rock, Ark., station which uses a signed newscast. A videotape of the Little rock broadcast convinced KGW officials on the idea but they changed the presentation to give the signer the spotlight and the tape in a voice background.
The newscast was then placed in the middle of KGW's Today Show, a popular local interest program viewed by 40,000 people daily
Problems, both Stack and KGW said, were surprisingly few.The taped announcer in the background had to be slowed down from a speech rate of over 90 minutes per minute to around 60 for the hand signer. Stack comes to the studio at 7:15 a.m.to rewrite the news, leaving out about one-third of the words of the announcer.
Stack uses an American sign language, which he calls a slang version of the more formal English signs. Signs are nor a language of words, but of ideas, says Stack, who must spell out proper names and locations using lightning-fast movements of his hands. Because both of his parents were deaf Stack learned the language before he was taught ti speak.
The amplified voice of the announcer over a special earpiece also aids Stack during the show.
"I rely more on the lack of sound during the pauses to tell where I am in the newscast rather than the words," Stack said.
Response from deaf people around the state has been tremendous, says both Stack and KGW. The real surprise, Stack admits, is the response from hearing people.
"I thought there be some opposition by the public in seeing sign language on television," he says. "But we've had a very good response from hearing people. The service of giving the news to the deaf also brings the problems of the deaf to the public, something I didn't expect when we started."
But tack didn;t stop with just the news program. He also encouraged KGW to start a 15-minute Sunday religious program and monthly show emphasizing problens of the deaf, both done in sign language.
"I want the deaf to be helpful in helping themselves," he says.
Keith Lollis, program director at KGW, echoed tack's enthusiasm for the program. He estimated only 15 other stations across the nation have similar shows and said he had helped sister station KING in Seattle set up a signed newscast.
Stack leaves the station after the telecast and outs in an eight-hour day as an accountant for Mayflower Farms.
"At the beginning, I wondered what the hell I was doing this for. It makes for a long day," he said.
The shows, admits Stack, have also affected him.
"I think I'm not such a square anymore after contact with the television people," Stack says. "I find them very exciting."
His hair length has also changed too.
"It's possibly as long as it can be now if I still want to be an accounatant,"^[1]

Obituary

Deaf interpreter Stack dies at 84
Hank Stack, KGW (8)'s sign language interpreter for more than 30 years, died Wednesday.
Stack, 84, died from complications from heart surgery, KGW news director Rod Gramer said.
Since 1971, Stack provided sign language during the morning local news segments."I loved his feistiness," said KGW anchor Brenda Braxton, who worked with Stack for nearly 12 years.
Stacks, who grew up in Missouri, had been almost completely deaf since he was a small boy. A longtime Portlander, he taught sign language at Portland Community College and helped found the Northwest Theater for the Deaf in the early '70s. He was also a prominent activist for gay rights.
Stack and his wife, Marianne, were married for 42 years. A widower, Stack was the father of three daughters, Kelly, Holly and Sharon.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Washington State School for the Deaf auditorium.
— Peter Ames Carlin ^[2]

Remembrances

Henry "Hank" Stack, who signed the morning news on KGW Newschannel 8 for 31 years, taught American Sign Language at Portland Community College, and was one of the founders of Northwest Theatre of the Deaf, died on July 31, 2002, at age 84. He died from complications after heart surgery.

Hank was a talented, patient, kind, generous man who remained active in the community until his hospitalization. He was proud of his work at KGW, and was a fond patron of the Arts, paving the road to accessibility in many Arts organizations. His patronage will be missed by all.^[3]