Lynn Sherr (born March 4, 1942) is an American
broadcast journalist and author, best known as a correspondent for the
ABC news magazine ''
20/20
Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...
''.
Life
Sherr was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
, and attended
Lower Merion High School in
Ardmore. She received a B.A. from
Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial ...
.
She was a freelance host at
WNET-TV in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, then staff. She worked for the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
and
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station W ...
. In 1977, she was the guest host of the
MacNeil–Lehrer Report while
Robert MacNeil
Robert Breckenridge Ware MacNeil, Order of Canada, OC (born January 19, 1931) is a Canadian-American journalist and writer. He is a retired television news anchor who partnered with Jim Lehrer to create ''The MacNeil/Lehrer Report'' in 1975.
E ...
was absent, and has hosted a number of
PBS specials. In 1983–85 she was a reporter/editor for
Condé Nast
Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast, and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.
The company's m ...
. In 2008, she left the television network ABC after working with them for 31 years. She is the author of ''Outside the Box: A Memoir'', published in September 2006, which chronicles her life on and off TV, including her husband's death from cancer as well as her own battle with
colon cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowe ...
.
She received a 1994
George Foster Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
along with producer Alan B. Goldberg for the "Hunger Inside" a 20/20 documentary about extreme
anorexia
Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...
.
Feminism
Sherr is a
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
. She has twice (in 1989 and 1992) been the recipient of the
Planned Parenthood Federation of America's (PPFA)
Margaret Sanger Award
The Margaret Sanger Award was an honor awarded annually by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 1966 to 2015. Created to honor the legacy of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, it is the Federation's highest honor. I ...
(known as the "Maggie"), which is awarded to journalists for "exceptional coverage of reproductive rights and health care issues" in the view of PPFA.
She also hosted PPFA's Maggie Awards luncheon in 2010.
Sherr has rejected calls for a "new feminism" and remarked, "What's wrong with the old feminism?"
She strongly criticized
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...
for calling herself a feminist: "What, exactly, has she done legislatively for other women? What paths has she forged?"
Sherr was featured in the Jewish Women's Archive web feature ''Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution''.
Published works
* ''Susan B. Anthony Slept Here: A Guide to American Women's Landmarks'' (co-author, 1994)
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References
External links
ABC News 20/20 profile
*
The Giraffe Conservation Foundationwhere Lynn Sherr is a Founding Patron.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherr, Lynn
1942 births
American biographers
20th-century American Jews
American feminists
Jewish feminists
American television reporters and correspondents
Living people
Peabody Award winners
Writers from Philadelphia
Wellesley College alumni
Journalists from Pennsylvania
Lower Merion High School alumni
21st-century American Jews