It's no wonder David can handle whatever the news throws at him. He started training when he was 5 years old and spent the next eight years appearing on a public affairs program in Ohio.
David joined ABC7 News in 1972, back when the program was called "Newscene."
"Forty years ago things were really in the dark ages; I mean we were still shooting on film, we had to wait for film to be processed," he said.
That meant it took hours to get pictures on the air. By the 1980s, video tape sped up the pace and live feeds allowed instant coverage of stories.
Over the years, David has reported on many of the Bay Area's biggest stories, from the Patty Hearst kidnapping to the Loma Prieta earthquake.
In 1979, David was one of the first American reporters allowed into China.
"We got to see exactly what this country was that was closed off to the world for 40 years," he said.
The trip was just months after China and the United States normalized relations.
David was one of first Asian American TV reporters in the Bay Area and he's been on the air the longest.
But David is not all business, all the time. Long before the Food Network, David was doing a feature called "Friday Feast." He pinch hit on the sports desk and even judged a song contest.
When David started at ABC7, the station advertised him as an "outsider," but after 40 years, he's now the ultimate Bay Area insider and he's not ready to quit.
"If I can, I'd like to be the ever-ready battery bunny; I'd like to just keep going and going and going," David said.
Written and produced by Jennifer Olney
