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LYNNE RUSSELL
AUTHOR OF HOW TO WIN FRIENDS, KICK ASS & INFLUENCE PEOPLE
Lynne Russell, as evening anchor of CNN Headline News, was the first woman to become the regular, solo anchor of a daily evening prime time newscast on a television network. During her 18 years with CNN, she developed a cult following of men and women who admire her objective, authoritative, delivery and her non-conformist on-air personality and demeanor. She loves telling them about their world, and it shows. So much so, that she has returned to the newsroom in Toronto, Ontario where she now resides, anchoring on the CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Never standing still, Lynne also has just joined the quintessential Canadian real estate firm of Royal LePage. As an agent in the wheels-on-fire Toronto/Ontario market, she is bringing her consumer-oriented on-air skills down to earth.
Her long-standing dedication to the people’s right to know was recognized in the New York Times, which called Lynne a “just-the-facts stalwart of CNN Headline News.” In The Washington Post: “We are, frankly, devastated by the news… Lynne Russell is leaving…the future seems a little sadder.” Lynne hosted the first U.S. cable in the classroom project, as her CNN Week in Review was introduced in schools. She was the first recipient of the Russell P. Jandoli “Excellence in Journalism Award” presented by St. Bonaventure University. Before CNN, Lynne anchored and reported investigative/general/medical assignments at television and radio stations from Florida to Hawaii, and programmed talk radio: KENS-TV, San Antonio, TX; KHON-TV, Honolulu, HI; WTLV-TV, Jacksonville, FL; WKAT Talkradio, Miami FL; KCOL radio, Ft. Collins, CO. She majored in nursing at the University of Colorado, in Boulder and Denver.
Yet Lynne’s world is more than meets the eye. For years, she has successfully balanced her journalism career and motherhood with her other “occupations”: Deputy Sheriff in Fulton County [Atlanta] Georgia as jail officer, and licensed private investigator. She holds two black belts in the martial art Choi Kwang Do, is a certified open water SCUBA diver and keelboat sailor, and classifies herself an enthusiastic – if clumsy – ice hockey skater.
All of this prompted her to write her inspirational first book, How to Win Friends, Kick Ass and Influence People (Dec.1999, St. Martin’s Press). She explores the liberating concepts of appreciating and utilizing one’s own abilities and talents, peaceful coexistence with the opposite gender, and the celebration of la difference. Actor/comedian Richard Belzer says, “If Xena, warrior princess could tell her story, this would be her book.” The New York Times review quipped she’s “a news anchor with the personality of a professional wrestler.”
Since CNN, she has been researching her second book, Enemy of the State: the state of personal liberties in post-9/11 America, and has launched Lynne Russell Red Lipstick on LynneRussell.com.
And she is the proud creator of the Benevento Lampshade Co., featuring personally handstitched, one-of-a-kind luxurious Italian silk lampshades, showcased at BeneventoLampshades.com. A nod to her Italian heritage and the romance of the Old Country. A la famiglia!
