Lynne Russell is an American journalist and author. She was the first woman to solo anchor a prime time network nightly newscast as the host of

CNN Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...

from 1983 to 2001, as well as six years as co-host of ''The Week in Review'' with

Bob Cain Robert Max "Sugar" Cain (October 16, 1924 – April 8, 1997) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Browns between 1949 and 1954. He batted and threw left-handed. Cain was the p ...

on CNN.

Early life and education

Russell was born in Orange, New Jersey and raised around the United States, being the daughter of a United States Army officer. Russell graduated from

Manzano High School Manzano High School is a public high school located in northeast Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is part of the Albuquerque Public Schools system. The current principal is Rachel Vigil. History While still sophomores, Manzano's first senior cla ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. She attended the University of Colorado, where she majored in Nursing.

Career

Television and radio

Before joining ''CNN Headline News'' in 1983, Russell anchored the evening news on KENS in San Antonio in 1980, where she also was an investigative and courthouse reporter. Previously, she served a year as a news anchor and military correspondent for KHON-TV in Honolulu. From 1978 to 1979 Russell anchored and reported at WTLV-TV in Jacksonville, Florida. Also, from 1971 to 1978 she was Program Director, as well as anchor and host, of a four-hour weekday morning news and interview program at WKAT in Miami. Russell was the first recipient of the Russell P. Jandoli ''Excellence in Journalism Award'' presented by

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,381 undergraduate and graduate students. The Franciscan Brothers established the university in 1858. In athletics, the St. Bonaventure Bonn ...

of Western New York. Russell lived in Toronto for several years, working for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

beginning in 2006 and then at radio station CFRB from 2008 to 2010.

Private investigator and law enforcement

Russell is a licensed private investigator who worked as a detective. She also is a first degree black belt in Choi Kwang-Do, and has worked as a bodyguard and Fulton County Deputy Sheriff in the Reserve division.

Author

Russell's first book was ''How to Win Friends, Kick A** and Influence People: A Memoir''. Published on November 30, 1999, she shared her life story, including her global travels in her youth and her experiences as a private investigator and bodyguard. Russell has written two novels in her PJ Santini series, ''Hell on Heels'' and ''Heels of Fortune''.

Survived shootout

She and her husband Chuck de Caro were on a cross-country trip from Washington, D.C. to California and were spending the night of June 30, 2015 at a Motel 6 in

, when an armed man forced his way into their room. De Caro was shot three times; he returned fire, mortally wounding the intruder. De Caro was taken to a hospital for two weeks and recovered. De Caro and Russell filed a lawsuit against Motel 6 and related parties on October 13, 2015 for alleged negligent and reckless security resulting in severe injury, negligent infliction of emotional distress, loss of consortium and Unfair Trade Practices Act violations to motel operators and employees. The suit was dismissed with prejudice on October 18, 2017.Caselookup
''New Mexico Courts'', 2017-10-18

References

External links

*
Photos of Lynne Russell anchoring at Headline News

Lynne Russell's Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Lynne Living people American expatriates in Canada Canadian television news anchors Canadian radio personalities American television news anchors People from Orange, New Jersey Canadian women journalists American women radio journalists CNN people American women television journalists Year of birth missing (living people)