Judging by the streaks of gray slowly working down his shoulder-length dreads, it is difficult to believe that he was once a TV weatherman.
But television wasn't really Henry Nelson's thing. Nelson is a radio man - through and through.
Thirty-four years of radio and broadcast experience may have brought him gray hair, but they also gave him knowledge?
"It's important that you choose a passion, and not a profession," Nelson said. "Find your passion, and the reward will come."
Nelson said that more than 30 years ago, he was inspired to pursue a career in radio after listening to Jack Buck announce Cardinal baseball games on "a new thing called 'stereo radio.'"
"He painted a picture through radio," Nelson said. "I could see my seat. I could see the ball. I could see the people sitting next to me."
Even though he was awarded a basketball scholarship after high school, Nelson said he decided not to take it.
"In high school, I killed a lot of my creative time with athletics, and they kept me out of trouble," Nelson said. "I just didn't show up for college ... I didn't want to play."
Instead, Nelson said that he decided to take a year off to think about what he wanted to do with his life. Inspired by radio broadcasts, Nelson said he started knocking on radio station doors "just to see what it looked like inside."
He told a story about one of the people behind those front doors - a disk jockey named "Wild Child," who, much to Nelson's surprise, only had one arm, had one leg shorter than the other and rolled around the station in a wheel chair.
"I was inspired," said Nelson, describing how Wild Child moved around the station doing his job relatively unaffected by his disability.
Soon after, Nelson enrolled in Elkins Institute and started his education in broadcast, an education that he never quite managed to finish.
"I was just doing what 19 year olds do," Nelson said.
"I went to New Orleans under the guise of college," Nelson said, but he now admits that there was a girl involved in the decision, and Marti Gras seemed like a nice perk.
Nelson remembered the advice of one of his college instructors.
"One of my professors told me, 'The same paperwork you did to get in here-you do it to get out," Nelson said.
But Nelson never took that advice. Instead, he plunged headfirst into a professional career in radio.
Nelson said that over the years, radio has allowed him to meet some fascinating people. He hung out with Stevie Wonder, and said that at one point, he "considered pushing him in the pool."
Nelson said that he met Smokey Robinson and was amazed at how down to earth he was.
"I was really amazed at the genuine compassion of a really famous person, who was just a regular guy," Nelson said.
Through radio, Nelson also became acquainted with Dave Brown, a WMC-TV weathercaster and former radio D.J.
"Dave Brown is my hero," Nelson said. "He is a stand up guy with a lot of integrity. I aspire to have what Dave Brown has."
In 1994, it was Brown who convinced Nelson to try his hand at being a TV weathercaster.
"At the time, only a handful of African-Americans were doing TV weather," Nelson said. "And it was an opportunity to make a lot of money."
Nelson took the job as a weathercaster, but kept working in radio at the same time. Nelson said that television didn't come naturally for him, and the stress affected his health.
"Being in front of a camera is a strange thing," Nelson said. "With the microphone, I know there's one person listening, but on camera ... there are, literally, millions of people watching."
"After less than a year, it put me in the hospital," Nelson said. "I'd never been sick in my life...It literally put me 'under the weather.'"
Nelson gave up on television after that, and he returned to doing radio work full-time. He said that radio was what he really loved.
"(Young people) have never experienced the magic of having a transistor radio beside your bed until the batteries go dead," Nelson said.
He said that at night, he used to listen to a radio show out of Nashville, and that is part of the beauty of radio.
"Radio takes you places," Nelson said.
According to Nelson, there have been a lot of changes to the radio industry during his 34 years in the business.
"What's changed?" Nelson said. "Everything has changed.
"I romanticize the simplicity of when I was 19," Nelson said. "I'm one of the dinosaurs that survives because I'm teachable and I can learn. ... But the bottom line is Wall Street has changed things."
Nelson said corporate America has had an impact on the day-to-day operations at radio stations and basically, the stations and their employees are "tools to keep the stock holder's property compliant."
"Corporate America dictated a lot of red tape, and it takes a lot of creativity out of (radio)," Nelson said, mentioning the growing amount of paperwork he is asked to fill out.
"I intentionally don't do a lot of it," Nelson said. "I just pretend I don't know how to do it."
According to Nelson, radio stations now devote more airtime to commercials, and due to technology and increased automation, newcomers have a much steeper learning curve than he faced.
Because many radio stations are being consolidated into a few large corporations, Nelson said that he has been asked to cooperate with radio stations who were previously his competitors.
"These are the guys we've been fighting against all these years, and now you want us to work with them?" Nelson said.
But despite the negative changes, Nelson remains hopeful.
"Radio is still a very powerful medium, especially at the local level," Nelson said. "Radio has the power to make a difference."
Nelson said that recently, it was a radio reporter who publicized the racial conflict surrounding the Jena 6 and helped unite protesters who traveled to Jena, La.
Currently, Nelson is a program director and on-air personality for two Memphis radio stations, including Soul Classics 103.5-FM. Most recently, he was involved with the launch of a new station, 98.9 KIM-FM.
Nelson offered some advice to the students who aspire to work in radio.
"I've always asked, 'What would I do if money was not a concern? What would I do for free?'" Nelson said.
"I've never told my boss," Nelson said, "but the truth is: What I do now, I would do for free."
"I was hired by knocking on doors and hanging out," Nelson said. "Now, it's more competitive. But just keep knocking."
"I'm able to look at the broad strokes and see the big picture. That allows me to jump past steps one, two and three, straight to step 12," Nelson said. "I have experience on the new young guys."
"But if you stay in," Nelson said, "I look forward to seeing you come for my job."
