A giant of the television world, Phil Donahue, died this week at the age of 88. Born in Cleveland, Donahue was called the “King of the Daytime Talk Shows” for his show, which aired from 1967 to 1996. He hosted everyone from entertainers to presidents. Carol Story, also from northeast Ohio, was one of his producers during a 29-year run.

She saw the show when it aired from Dayton. She was actually a guest on a show about adoption while Donahue later lived in Chicago. The show moved again in the ’80s, and in 1988 she received a call that would change her life.

“The call to go to New York and be with Donahue came about two days after our daughter’s wedding,” she said. “So I was free as a bird.”

Story spent much of the ’70s and ’80s producing Cleveland’s TV giant, “The Morning Exchange,” but filling in for a “Donahue” producer on maternity leave at 30 Rockefeller Plaza was a very different experience. Story became part of a team of five producers and a large staff.

“I’m from Cleveland…you always had to rush,” she said. “If you worked at Donahue and you were in New York City or Chicago, Donahue was such a powerhouse that you could have anything you wanted at any time. I mean, if you said to a publisher, ‘I’m thinking about putting your author on TV,’ the book would be on your desk in 45 minutes. I wasn’t used to that.”

Donahue grew up with Cleveland television legend Dorothy Fuldheim and began his career as an announcer at what is now WKYC-TV, quickly giving his new producer the nickname of his hometown.

“I called him Cleveland,” she said. “He was great to work with. The show taped at 4 o’clock. He usually came in at 2:30. If you were the producer for the day, you brought him your material, sat down and chatted with him. He could make the material ring. After every show, Phil would stand at the door and say goodbye to every audience member. I challenge you to name anyone else who does that.”

Despite numerous stories of behind-the-scenes machinations in recent years, particularly involving talk show hosts, Story said Donahue has remained down to earth.

“It sounds so fake and inauthentic, but it’s the truth: He was a good guy,” she said. “Did he get angry? Did he get mad? Absolutely. He was never cruel. He was never vindictive. And when he was mad at you, you worked it out and it was over.”

Although the show had high ratings at the time, the daytime schedule was crowded with tabloid shows such as “Geraldo,” “Sally Jesse Raphael,” and “A Current Affair.”

“I think ‘Donahue’ could have been big on any of those shows if they wanted a guest,” she said. “I don’t want to speak for management or Phil, but to be honest, we just ignored it.”

However, another Chicago talk show gained popularity and was broadcast nationally shortly after Donahue left the Windy City for the Big Apple.

“‘Oprah’ was a different story,” Story said. “Phil, of course, was in all markets. ‘Oprah’ was in many markets. The difference was booking the shows. When PMK, one of the big advertising houses in the country, said, ‘We’re sorry, Robin (Williams) doesn’t want to pitch his movie with Phil this time. He’s going to talk to Oprah,’ it was an earthquake. It’s huge. When you’ve done a show and you’ve never heard ‘no,’ it’s a moment. So everyone had to readjust.”

After her time at Donahue, Story moved to the other side of Manhattan and worked for CBS News for the next 23 years. But when Donahue retired in 1996, he remembered his former producer.

“I got an invitation to go on an all-expenses-paid cruise with my husband,” she said. “It was from Phil.”

A quick conversation with a former colleague confirmed the invitation: Donahue was hosting a party on the high seas for everyone who had worked on his show for a year or more.

“I said, ‘I only worked there for seven months,'” Story said.

The answer from her former colleague?

“I know, but he loved you.”

During the cruise, we were reminded of the quiet generosity of Donahue and his wife, Marlo Thomas. Story and her husband were introduced to a man who called himself “Lillian’s doctor.”

“Lillian worked in Phil’s advertising department for many, many years,” Story said. “When the RSVPs came back … Lillian couldn’t go because she had a kidney condition. Phil said, ‘Lillian has to go on the cruise.’ Phil hired a doctor and a nurse and converted a cabin into a dialysis center so Lillian could go on the cruise. That’s generosity and kindness and caring for people. It’s a good lesson for most of us.”