Kevin Janison unrolls what looks to be a long cylinder of silver bathroom tissue across a table draped in black cloth. The roll is actually dozens of shiny adhesive badges reading “Deputy Dorkface,” which are being presented to anyone who buys Janison’s new children’s book, Deputy Dorkface: How Stinkville Got Cleaned up (Stephens Press, $16.95) during his Sunday afternoon book-signing at the Reading Room. An Emmy Award-winning weatherman and the 2006 National Weather Association Broadcaster of the Year, Janison spent 12 years with KLAS Channel 8 before the CBS affiliate swapped him out for Gina Cancelliere in August.
Janison, whose wife, Terri, is a trustee on the Clark County School Board, says he has since been “in exile from television.” In the meantime he has done some freelance work for KRNV Channel 4 in Reno and finished off Deputy Dorkface, the tale of a brother and sister who find their way to a town called Stinkville that needs a real scrubbing. The stench in Stinkville is high, as Deputy Dorkface has declared the town’s water as toxic and unfit for bathing (to use Janison’s parlance, the book is warm and mostly sunny).
The affable weatherman-in-waiting took time to discuss the book —his first—prior to his book signing:
How does a person versed in barometric pressure and dew points wind up at a book signing at a Strip resort?
[Laughs] I’m not sure how this happens. Three weeks ago I was at an elementary school talking to kids, so this is uncharted territory for me. The publishers thought it would be a good way to promote the book, so here we are. It’s mostly a tourist crowd who has no idea who I am, so it’s a good way to find out how good the book is.
You mean, it’s a good barometer?
I was going to use that line!
Where did you come up with the idea of Deputy Dorkface and Stinkville?
It’s a story I used to tell my kids [Janison’s daughter, Taylor, is 13 and his son, Colin, is 11]. I used to use “Dorkface” as a character, without the deputy, and that made them laugh. But they had to laugh. If they didn’t I would cut off their allowance.
Do you still watch Channel 8?
[Laughs] I just have to say “No comment” to that.
- John Katsilometes