Life and Career
Savitch was born in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles from Philadelphia. She was the daughter of Florence (née Goldberger), a navy nurse, and David Savitch, who ran a clothing store. Her father and maternal grandfather were Jewish, and her maternal grandmother was Italian American and Catholic. After her father died in 1959, her family moved to Margate, New Jersey (a suburb of Atlantic City). She attended Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, where she worked at the campus radio and TV stations and at WOND1400 a newstalk station in Linwood, NJ, WBBF, an AM outlet in Rochester. After graduating in the spring of 1968, Savitch worked at various radio and TV stations, including WCBS in New York and KHOU-TV in Houston. She then became a popular local television newscaster at KYW-TV, the former NBC affiliate (now CBS) in Philadelphia, and a Washington correspondent for NBC News. She also anchored Frontline on PBS. Her autobiography, Anchorwoman, was published in 1982.
However, as Savitch's career accelerated, the instability already present in her personal life increased. She had a stormy 10-year on-and-off relationship with news director Ron Kershaw, who was allegedly abusive to her. Savitch also suffered through two difficult marriages. Her first marriage to advertising executive Mel Korn took place on January 6, 1980 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Her husband's business failed soon afterwards and the couple separated 10 months later. By the time Savitch and Korn separated, she had begun having an affair with her gynecologist. Savitch married Donald Payne on March 21, 1981, weeks after her divorce was finalized. After Payne attempted suicide, and was hospitalized, Savitch had her pregnancy terminated, but told family that she had suffered a miscarriage. Payne, who had been tormented by physical and mental illness, committed suicide on August 1, 1981 by hanging himself in the basement of their Washington DC townhouse.
Read more about this topic: Jessica Savitch
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