I hope that you will join us on September 25 to hear the legendary broadcast journalist Connie Chung discuss her memoir, Connie. As Literary Arts Senior Artistic Director, I am so proud to be presenting a true trailblazer and American icon.
If you haven’t had a chance to read this New York Times piece from last year about “Generation Connie,” I can’t recommend it highly enough. Warning: Have a tissue handy. The piece is about the many, many Asian women named after Connie Chung, often because their parents wanted to name them for a strong, successful Asian American female role model. The story is very moving and speaks so highly what Connie Chung means to American culture, and the intimate connection she was able to make with people all over the country.
In fact, the week we were considering pitching for this event, I was doing an on-demand at-home exercise class (brag, just kidding), and the instructor, whose mother is Chinese, was sharing an anecdote about her friend Connie, then shared that her friend is (you guessed it) named for Connie Chung! The instructor talked movingly about how much seeing Connie on television meant to her as a young Asian American girl. It was fresh evidence about the wide reach of Generation Connie, and Connie Chung’s impact across the generations.
Connie Chung is, of course, trailblazing as an Asian American broadcast journalist but as a woman in journalism as well, busting through glass ceilings to become the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News. You know she has some amazing stories — good, bad, and ugly — about her time in the broadcast trenches to share with us when she visits Portland. She’s not afraid to spill some tea, either! She has a great sense of humor and it’s guaranteed to be a fun evening.
Just look at this cover. Iconic:
Here’s the official publisher copy for Connie:
In a sharp, witty, and definitive memoir like no other, iconic trailblazer and legendary journalist Connie Chung delves into her storied career as the first Asian woman to break into an overwhelmingly white, male-dominated television news industry.
Connie Chung is a pioneer. In 1969 at the age of 23, this once-shy daughter of Chinese parents took her first job at a local TV station in her hometown of Washington, D.C. and soon thereafter began working at CBS news as a correspondent. Profoundly influenced by her family’s cultural traditions, yet growing up completely Americanized in the United States, Chung describes her career as an Asian woman in a white male-centered world. Overt sexism was a way of life, but Chung was tenacious in her pursuit of stories – battling rival reporters to secure scoops that ranged from interviewing Magic Johnson to covering the Watergate scandal – and quickly became a household name. She made history when she achieved her dream of being the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and the first Asian to anchor any news program in the U.S.
Chung pulls no punches as she provides a behind-the-scenes tour of her singular life. From showdowns with powerful men in and out of the newsroom to the stories behind some of her career-defining reporting and the unwavering support of her husband, Maury Povich, nothing is off-limits – good, bad, or ugly. So be sure to tune in for an irreverent and inspiring exclusive: this is CONNIE like you’ve never seen her before.
See you on September 25! Get your tickets here.