Eleanor Martha Schano (July 31, 1932 – November 9, 2020) was an American journalist and television presenter based in Pittsburgh.

Early life

Eleanor Schano was born and raised in Green Tree, near Pittsburgh, the daughter of Joseph J. Schano and Eleanor Daley Schano. She graduated from Dormont High School in 1950, and from Duquesne University in 1954. She mentioned the

Brenda Starr, Reporter ''Brenda Starr, Reporter'' (often referred to simply as ''Brenda Starr'') is a comic strip about a glamorous, adventurous reporter. It was created in 1940 by Dale Messick for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. History Although set in Chicago, ''B ...

comic strip as one inspiration for her seeking a career in journalism.

Career

Schano was a model and Pittsburgh's first female weather presenter, before becoming a reporter and eventually news anchor in Pittsburgh television. She was the first solo primetime news anchorwoman in Pittsburgh, when she held that position from 1969 to 1974 at WIIC ( WPXI). She hosted several programs, including ''Face to Face'' (a weekly public affairs discussion), ''Good Day Pittsburgh'' (a daily magazine show), ''AgeWise Weekly'' and ''Live Well/Live Long'' (long-running wellness information programs for older viewers). She also had a longtime on-air presence on KQV radio. Schano served on the Greater Pittsburgh Commission for Women. She was a board member of the Civic Light Opera and the Carnegie Science Center. In 2009, the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

presented Schano with a lifetime achievement Emmy. Other honors include five Golden Quills and a President's Award from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, and a Love Award from the City of Pittsburgh. Schano was skeptical of the work of the

women's rights movement Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

in the 1970s, saying that she had not personally faced gender discrimination. However, she included some stories of gender discrimination in her memoir, ''Riding the Airwaves: The Life and Televised Times of Eleanor Schano'' (2006).

Personal life

Schano was married three times. She married her first husband, Warren Bentley Dana, in 1955; he died in 1969. Her second husband was sportscaster Edward B. Conway; he died in 1974. She married her third husband, judge John M. Feeney, in 1982; he died in 2011. Eleanor Schano was survived by two daughters when she died from complications of COVID-19 in November 2020, at age 88.

References

External links

* Charles "Teenie" Harris
"Julian Bond at Press Conference with Reporter Eleanor Schano in Background, University of Pittsburgh"
(February 1967), photograph in the collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art.
Eleanor Schano hosting a 1988 discussion
about Allegheny County tax reassessment on WQED, from YouTube. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schano, Eleanor 1932 births 2020 deaths Mass media people from Pittsburgh American women journalists American television news anchors Duquesne University alumni Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania