Connie Chung, trailblazing news anchor and reporter, shattered glass ceilings, paving the way for those who followed in television news. She was the first women to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and the first Asian to anchor any program on the national networks. Both firsts were milestones in broadcast history.
Connie’s parents and four old sisters, all born in China, came to the U.S. in 1945. She was born a year later in Washington, D.C.
When she started in the news business in 1969, Connie was tenacious, competing in an overwhelmingly male-dominated profession. And despite sexism that was rampant in the early 1970’s, Connie became a household name covering historical events from Watergate and presidential elections to investigative stories for CBS, NBC and ABC. She landed scoops with sought after newsmakers such as Magic Johnson when he revealed he was HIV positive.
Her father gave her an unusual mission -- he envisioned her as the son her parents never had. He wanted her to carry forth the name Chung as males do. As a traditional Chinese daughter, she took his suggestion seriously.
Then to her shock, she discovered an entire generation of Asian parents had named their baby daughters Connie after her, creating a living legacy. Her husband, Maury Povich, the longest-running daytime talk show host in broadcast history, encouraged her to write her memoir, CONNIE. Just as in her career, she was not afraid to unpeel the layers of her struggles and triumphs in an honest, revelatory, witty book which has enjoyed critical acclaim and is a New York Times Bestseller.
