I learned something new today while watching the "Today" show. They were talking about the torrential rains and pounding Oregon and the Pacific Northwest on there this morning. Matt Lauer mention that news anchor Ann Curry was from Oregon and had family here.
I didn't know that.
It turns out Ann Curry grew up in Ashland.
When I was studying journalism here in the mid 1980s, Ann Curry was not the household name she is today. Of course from just seeing her on TV every day, I wouldn't have expected her to be. If anything I would have assumed she is younger than I am.
Back in my youth when I was an aspiring journalist, Curry had just left Portland's KGW TV. I found out that she spend some time, as I have, in Southern California. Unfortunately, I also discovered the Curry also is a Duck, a graduate of the University of Oregon. But I will try not to hold that against her.
But I guess the thing I see as most thrilling is not how Curry serves as an inspiration to people like me, as a fellow Oregonian and journalist, but how she may serve as an inspiration to people like my daughter. It could not have been easy to be a child and young woman of mixed race (Curry's mother was Japanese) growing up in Southern Oregon.
It gives me hope that my daughter, as a half-Latino young woman, will have every opportunity to overcome the prejudice that still exists in the world and achieve whatever she strives to achieve.
Curry is a good role model for women.
Oregonians
Today show
Ann Curry
Mixed race
3 comments:
Heck, Ann Curry is a good role model for any Oregonian.
I've followed her career for an awful long time.
She done good.
Ann Curry and I were classmates in many Journalism School courses at the UO. In addition to all you have posted, she's a genuinely nice person. I also love the fact that my grandfather, who lived in Medford most of his life, always referred to Ann as "my Ann Curry" throughout her rise to national prominence after her days as a newscaster on a local Southern Oregon station.
Yes, Samuel, she has done quite well. I guess I'm just a little slow to come to the fellow Oregonian fan party. Although, if it's any consolation, I have had a crush on her for some time. Can you believe she's 49? Amazing. Simply amazing.
Jeff, thanks for stopping by and sharing your personal story about your grandfather. That's very cool. From Medford TV to Rockefeller Plaza. Who would have guessed?
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