She began her career on the radio at WCFL 1000 AM. She also reported at WBBM-AM, where she covered the 1968 Democratic Convention and the riots that ensued. She moved to WMAQ and onto NBC News in 1974, becoming the first African-American woman to anchor a major network newscast. Simpson joined ABC News in 1982 and anchored the Sunday edition of World News Tonight for 15 years. "For me, Chicago is the perfect place to hold this event," said Simpson. "As a broadcaster, Chicago has always been my home, as the city where my career was born."
In her autobiography, NewsLady, Simpson takes a behind-the-scenes look at her life, recalling the kinds of prejudices against her race and gender that made her climb to the top of her already-competitive profession all that more difficult. Called "An honest, engaging self-portrait of a woman who forever changed racial and gender dynamics in media" by Kirkus Reviews, it is also a book of "firsts": the first woman to broadcast radio news in Chicago; the first African American female to anchor a local television newscast in the same city; the first African American woman to become a correspondent for a major network; the first black woman to anchor a newscast for a major network; and the first woman or minority to moderate a presidential debate, which attracted a televised audience of 91 million viewers.
Simpson has Candid advice for others that could help avoid similar injustices, giving readers straightforward strategies about how to deal with adversity in the workplace. NewsLady is a story of triumph over great odds in the news and in the trenches.
MEET CAROLE SIMPSON
TUESDAY, MAY 10TH
6:30 PM-8:30 PM
InterContinental Hotel
505 N. Michigan Ave
Chicago
About the author (release) Carole Simpson is a former TV anchor and senior correspondent at ABC News, where she won three Emmys and many awards for her work and philanthropy. Her career in broadcast journalism spanned 40 years, during which she reported on the release of Nelson Mandela from a South African prison and became the first woman or minority to moderate a presidential debate. After her broadcast career at ABC ended in 2006, she was named Leader in Residence at Emerson College's School of Communication in Boston, where she is a full time journalism faculty member and writing coach. Simpson also maintains a blog and website, called Think About It at www.carolesimpson.com. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and did graduate work at the University of Iowa. She and her husband, Jim Marshall, live in Boston and have a home in Martha's Vineyard. Her visit to Chicago is part of a series with The History Makers.
About The HistoryMakers The HistoryMakers is a national 501 (c)(3) non-profit video oral history archive headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The HistoryMakers is dedicated to preserving African American history as the missing link in American history. Focused on American history, oral history and education in general and more specifically on African American history, education, music, law, the arts, science, technology, media, medicine, entertainment, fashion & beauty, business, the military, politics and sports, The History Makers is a combination archive, library, museum, stock footage collection, on-line educator and educational PBS/TV programming. Its topics include but are not limited to African American organizations and associations, slavery, reconstruction, the labor movement, the civil rights movement and black authors.
AuthorHouse is the leading provider of self- publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe. For more information, visit www.authorhouse.com