Peter Jennings has died of Lung Cancer

[BERIGAN]

Sure didn't take the Cancer long to get him, R.I.P. Peter

Aug. 7 — ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings died today at his home in New York City. He was 67. On April 5, Jennings announced he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

He is survived by his wife, Kayce Freed, his two children, Elizabeth, 25, and Christopher, 23, and his sister, Sarah Jennings.

"Peter died with his family around him, without pain and in peace. He knew he'd lived a good life," his wife and children said in a statement.

In announcing Jennings' death to his ABC colleagues, News President David Westin wrote:

"For four decades, Peter has been our colleague, our friend, and our leader in so many ways. None of us will be the same without him.

"As you all know, Peter learned only this spring that the health problem he'd been struggling with was lung cancer. With Kayce, he moved straight into an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. He knew that it was an uphill struggle. But he faced it with realism, courage, and a firm hope that he would be one of the fortunate ones. In the end, he was not.

"We will have many opportunities in the coming hours and days to remember Peter for all that he meant to us all. It cannot be overstated or captured in words alone. But for the moment, the finest tribute we can give is to continue to do the work he loved so much and inspired us to do."

Reported World-Shaping Events

As one of America's most distinguished journalists, Jennings reported many of the pivotal events that have shaped our world. He was in Berlin in the 1960s when the Berlin Wall was going up, and there in the '90s when it came down. He covered the civil rights movement in the southern United States during the 1960s, and the struggle for equality in South Africa during the 1970s and '80s. He was there when the Voting Rights Act was signed in 1965, and on the other side of the world when South Africans voted for the first time. He has worked in every European nation that once was behind the Iron Curtain. He was there when the independent political movement Solidarity was born in a Polish shipyard, and again when Poland's communist leaders were forced from power. And he was in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Romania and throughout the Soviet Union to record first the repression of communism and then its demise. He was one of the first reporters to go to Vietnam in the 1960s, and went back to the killing fields of Cambodia in the 1980s to remind Americans that, unless they did something, the terror would return.

On Dec. 31, 1999, Jennings anchored ABC's Peabody-award winning coverage of Millennium Eve, "ABC 2000." Some 175 million Americans watched the telecast, making it the biggest live global television event ever. "The day belonged to ABC News," wrote The Washington Post, "… with Peter Jennings doing a nearly superhuman job of anchoring." Jennings was the only anchor to appear live for 25 consecutive hours.

Jennings also led ABC's coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks and America's subsequent war on terrorism. He anchored more than 60 hours that week during the network's longest continuous period of news coverage, and was widely praised for providing a reassuring voice during the time of crisis. TV Guide called him "the center of gravity," while the Washington Post wrote, "Jennings, in his shirt sleeves, did a Herculean job of coverage." The coverage earned ABC News Peabody and duPont awards.

Overseas, and at Home

Jennings joined ABC News on Aug. 3, 1964. He served as the anchor of "Peter Jennings with the News" from 1965 to 1967.

He established the first American television news bureau in the Arab world in 1968 when he served as ABC News' bureau chief for Beirut, Lebanon, a position he held for seven years. He helped put ABC News on the map in 1972 with his coverage of the Summer Olympics in Munich, when Arab terrorists took Israeli athletes hostage.

In 1975, Jennings moved to Washington to become the news anchor of ABC's morning program "A.M. America". After a short stint in the mornings, Jennings returned overseas to Rome where he stayed before moving to London to become ABC's Chief Foreign Correspondent. In 1978 he was named the foreign desk anchor for "World News Tonight." He co-anchored the program with Frank Reynolds in Washington, D.C., and Max Robinson in Chicago until 1983.

Jennings was named anchor and senior editor of "World News Tonight" in 1983. In his more than 20 years in the position he was honored with almost every major award given to television journalists.

His extensive domestic and overseas reporting experience was evident in "World News Tonight's" coverage of major crises. He reported from all 50 states and locations around the globe. During the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 War in Iraq, his knowledge of Middle Eastern affairs brought invaluable perspective to ABC News' coverage of the war in Iraq and the drug trade in Central and South America. The series also tackled important domestic issues such as gun control policy, the politics of abortion, the crisis in funding for the arts and a highly praised chronicle of the accused bombers of Oklahoma City. "Peter Jennings Reporting" earned numerous awards, including the 2004 Edward R. Morrow award for best documentary for "The Kennedy Assassination — Beyond Conspiracy."

Jennings also had a particular interest in broadcasting for the next generation. He did numerous live news specials for children on subjects ranging from growing up in the age of AIDS, to prejudice and its effects on our society. After the events of September 11, and again on the first anniversary, he anchored a town hall meeting for children and parents entitled, "Answering Children's Questions."

Jennings was honored with many awards for news reporting, including 16 Emmys, two George Foster Peabody Awards, several Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards and several Overseas Press Club Awards. Most recently, "World News Tonight" was recognized with two consecutive Edward R. Murrow awards for best newscast, based on field reporting done by Jennings on the California wildfires and the transfer of power in Iraq.

Jennings was the author, with Todd Brewster, of the acclaimed New York Times best seller, "The Century." It featured first-person accounts of the great events of the century. In 1999, he anchored the 12-hour ABC series, "The Century," and ABC's series for The History Channel, "America's Time." He and Brewster also published "In Search of America," a companion book for the six-part ABC News series.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1015438

[ghost of miles]

Very sad to hear of this this a.m. Of the Big Three, Jennings was always my favorite. On 9/11 we had just moved into our new house and had no TV--it was Jennings I listened to on ABC Radio, and he did an incredible job of covering the horror almost literally right in front of him. RIP and thanks for all the class.

[catesta]

R.I.P., Peter.

[Dr. Rat]

Jennings was always my favorite, too. He seemed the least affected of the big anchors, and always seemed to have a sardonic edge to him when appropriate (about 75% of the time in this country).

He seemed to have something of a lightweight image, though, in spite of all his experience (I can rmeember a few comments passed both publicly and amongst journalists about him). Anyone know more about this? It awlways puzzled me but I never bothered to pursue it.

--eric

Edited August 8, 2005 by Dr. Rat

[Dan Gould]

Jennings was always my favorite, too. He seemed the least affected of the big anchors, and always seemed to have a sardonic edge to him when appropriate (about 75% of the time in this country).

He seemed to have something of a lightweight image, though, in spite of all his experience (I can rmeember a few comments passed both publicly and amongst journalists about him). Anyone know more about this? It awlways puzzled me but I never bothered to pursue it.

--eric

←

Perhaps that's because he was a high school dropout?

Very sad news, I guess the cancer must have been quite advanced to kill him in fewer than four months.

[Dr. Rat]

Perhaps that's because he was a high school dropout?

As much as I value education, I have to say that increases my respect for him.

--eric

[clifford_thornton]

Ditto. Very bright individual and seemingly the most personable of the big three. I guess we're stuck with Fox News and CNN crap now...

RIP

(AFIK, he wasn't a smoker)

[7/4]

(AFIK, he wasn't a smoker)

←

Jennings was a longtime smoker who quit 20 years ago, but resumed during the Sept. 11 tragedy when he spent more than 60 hours on-air in a week.

[jazzbo]

One of my coworkers (not directly, but in the same division as I am in) died Friday night of lung cancer that had also fueled two brain tumors.

His illness and death was even swifter: about two months from diagnosis to the end! He was a heavy smoker; was only 49.

All this is fuel for me to stay away from smoking; I quit fifteen years and one month ago.

[Christiern]

I gave it up about 27 years ago, but it took me about ten years to reach a point where I began to be bothered by second-hand smoke.

Let's hope that Jenning's death wakes up some smokers.

[BruceH]

Quite a shock. I thought he was holding up against the cancer well.

RIP.

[GregK]

Ditto. Very bright individual and seemingly the most personable of the big three. I guess we're stuck with Fox News and CNN crap now...

RIP

(AFIK, he wasn't a smoker)

←

he was a smoker, he even admitted to starting back up again after Sept 11 2001

[patricia]

Jennings was always my favorite, too. He seemed the least affected of the big anchors, and always seemed to have a sardonic edge to him when appropriate (about 75% of the time in this country).

He seemed to have something of a lightweight image, though, in spite of all his experience (I can rmeember a few comments passed both publicly and amongst journalists about him). Anyone know more about this? It awlways puzzled me but I never bothered to pursue it.

--eric

←

Perhaps that's because he was a high school dropout?

Peter Jennings had his first job in television in Canada when he was nine years old on a program on CBC Television called "Peter's People". He then went on to work on both CBC and CTV in Canada until he was hired away to the U.S. in 1964.

Although Jennings did drop out of highschool in his sophomore year, like many bright people, that did not prevent him from educating himself. He didn't ever stop learning. He was a voracious reader, insatiably curious and had the opportunity of travelling the world as a reporter, observing and absorbing dozens of countries' culture, first hand.

I always found it amusing that when Jennings' name came up, his lack of formal education seemed to be the first thing that was used to put him down as just a pretty face.

I know dozens of people with degrees from universities out the yazoo who are not as knowledgeable as was Jennings.

He was among the most articulate and intelligent of the top three or four anchors and I would stack him up against any of them.

RIP Peter Jennings.

Edited August 9, 2005 by patricia