A Woody Durham story you don't know: Why UNC broadcaster made a B in speech class.

Woody Durham was not yet the legendary “Voice of the Tar Heels” when he took a speech class at the UNC-Chapel Hill in the early 1960s.

Back then, Durham was simply a UNC undergraduate from Albemarle with a strong interest in broadcast journalism.

Also in that class was Lee Rainey, a middling student who called me recently to tell me this story. Now 78 and a Charlotte resident for decades, Rainey remembered that the professor for the speech class had an Ivy League background (he believes it was Harvard). The professor also had certain ironclad rules about how speeches should be presented.

To his surprise, Rainey could follow those rules.

“I made an A,” Rainey said, “and it was the only A I ever made at Chapel Hill.”

As for Woody?

“He made a B,” Rainey said.

Why?

Said Rainey: “The professor said he sounded too much like a sportscaster.”

No doubt he did. Durham graduated from UNC in 1963 and was the Tar Heels’ radio voice for men’s basketball and football games from 1971-2011. He ultimately became a UNC institution, just like some of the star players and coaches about which he spoke millions of words in his stately Southern twang.

Durham died at home in Chapel Hill on March 7 at 76 of complications from a disease called Primary Progressive Aphasia. In a cruel twist, the disease severely affected Durham’s language expression and served to largely silence Durham’s resonant voice in his final months.

I contacted Woody’s widow, Jean Durham, to ask if she had ever heard the tale about the B that her husband made in that speech class more than 50 years ago.

“I have not heard that story,” wrote Jean, who was married to Woody for 54 years. “But I do know that he had a speech professor who was not from the area. So most likely it is a true story, and I would be pleased for you to use it.”

Durham’s family, along with UNC, will hold a memorial celebration of Durham’s life on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Carmichael Arena on the UNC campus. The memorial service is open to the public and expected to last about an hour. Doors will open at 1 p.m. and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

This story was originally published March 30, 2018 at 12:42 PM with the headline "A Woody Durham story you don't know: Why UNC broadcaster made a B in speech class.."