HOUSTON -- Texas never had a better tour guide. And Houston never had a tougher television newsman than Ray Miller. 

Miller, a longtime colleague at KHOU, has died at the age of 89 of natural causes.  He was an institution in Houston's news business for more than a half-century and worked as everything from an anchorman to an author.

As one of the city's founding fathers of broadcast news, Ray Miller practically invented Houston’s television news.

"We just tried to adapt what we knew about radio to the new medium.  We didn't even have any cameras to start with," said Miller in an interview about his beginnings.

But during his decades as KPRC's news director, he set a high bar for the generations of journalists who came after him.

"I think he set a standard in this community 50 to 55 years ago that is still being adhered to by the second and third generation of journalists,” said Steve Smith, retired television anchor.

In a way, Miller was Houston's Edward R. Murrow. He was a man who made a medium matter.

The legendary Texas TV newsman even hired the first Texas TV newswoman, who is now Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

"He took a chance on me, because I was a college law school graduate who never had one minute of training in journalism," said Hutchinson.

Miller was also a tough boss. As a navy veteran, he knew a few things about running a tight ship.

"He was one of those people who demanded a lot of himself and everybody he worked with.  And excellence was expected.  And when excellence was achieved it was rarely praised because it was expected," said Gray Miller, Ray Miller’s son.

Despite his decades of breaking the hard news stories of his time, Miller was best known for creating and hosting a magazine show called "The Eyes of Texas."

It became an institution for the state, but in 1982, he left KPRC and hit the road for KHOU.

For six years, he traveled the backroads of Texas with Channel 11 photographer Nathan Kvinge. Together they took the audience along for a ride, while showing them their own home state. 

If Ray Miller were here right now, he would insist we get our facts straight and get to the point.

The fact is, a man who showed us so much Texas history has now become a Texas legend.