6News reporter Ben Morriston says that he's the luckiest man in the world. He loves his job, especially getting out to meet "real" people.

Morriston's beat in the South Bureau takes him across much of southern Indiana, where he makes it a point to seek out those with interesting stories to tell.

"It seems to get better every day," he said.

Morriston joined RTV6 in 1979, and through the years, has received numerous awards for his work. He earned top honors from United Press International for a series of stories on discrepancies in fees charged by Marion County license branches.

In 1990, Morriston received the Internal Revenue Service's highest civilian award for exposing a company involved in a fraudulent tax scheme. He's won Casper Awards from the Community Service Council for helping provide fans and smoke detectors to those in need. Morriston also is a Sagamore of the Wabash.

The Massillon, Ohio, native graduated from San Jose University with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He also attended Stanford University.

In his spare time Morriston enjoys woodworking and restored a historic wooden carousel with 24 horses. It was a popular neighborhood attraction until he sold it. In its place is a fully operational, gasoline-powered, miniature train large enough to carry passengers.

"I really got it for the grandkids," Morriston joked. "That line works pretty well."

Want to drop Ben a line? You can e-mail him at ben_morriston@theindychannel.com.