Katie Couric

By Tom Kirvan

The first solo female anchor of a major network evening news program, Katie Couric was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2004 and became a best-selling author in 2011 when her book, “The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives,” was published.

Born on January 7, 1957, Couric earned a bachelor’s degree in 1979 from the University of Virginia, the alma mater of her father, who was a news editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She began her career in television broadcasting with the ABC News bureau in Washington, D.C. in 1979, before joining CNN as an assignment editor. She continued her career rise in 1989 when she joined NBC news as a Pentagon correspondent and later as a news anchor substitute and “Today Show” fill-in for host Bryant Gumbel.

Couric remained with “Today” and NBC News for 15 years before landing the anchor role with CBS News in 2006 and as a correspondent for “60 Minutes,” thereby completing the “Big Three” TV news trifecta. She stayed with CBS for five years before returning to ABC News and then Yahoo! in various anchor roles.

Katie Couric*

Currently, Couric and her second husband, John Molner, operate Katie Couric Media, a multimedia company that puts out a daily newsletter, videos, and podcasts, including the interview show “Next Question.”

Long known as one of the most versatile and talented broadcast journalists in the news business, Couric also has served as film producer, actress, Olympic coverage co-host, author of several children’s books, and tireless fund-raiser for cancer research following the death of her first husband, lawyer Jay Monahan, of colon cancer in 1998 at age 42.

Some of her more memorable quotes:

“Be fearless. Have the courage to take risks. Go where there are no guarantees. Get out of your comfort zone, even if it means being uncomfortable.”
“A boat is always safe in the harbor, but that's not what boats are built for.”
“I never learned anything when I was talking.”
“So just ask the question. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? ‘No’ isn’t really so bad, and ‘Yes’ might take you places you’d never expect.”

“All those people you pass as you climb the ladder of success could be the same ones who will catch you if you fall.”

*David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons