Posted by chicagomedia.org on November 17, 2008 at 09:59:31:
WGN-TV's Merri Dee isn't ready to prop her feet up just yet
Role model Dee filled many roles for WGN-TV
By Charles Leroux
Wish broadcasting pioneer Merri Dee a happy 72nd birthday, and you'll find she's already happy.
At an age when many complain about their aches and pains and that the world that isn't what it was, she remains active, engaged, learning new things, taking on new challenges.
"I'm awed by myself," she says matter-of-factly.
Oct. 1, after 37 years at WGN-TV hosting parades, telethons and talk shows, drawing lottery numbers, broadcasting the news, Dee left the station as director of community relations and manager of its Children's Charities (for which she raised more than $30 million).
"I begged the station not to say I was 'retiring,' just moving on," she said. "I've joined the board of AARP, been confirmed to the Mayor's Advisory Council on Women, made an ambassador of the U.S. Army to help increase scholarships for soldiers. I haven't had two minutes to breathe since I left, and that's not a complaint."
Dee was born Oct. 30, but she stretches the celebration out over weeks, "so everybody who says, 'We should have dinner to celebrate,' can."
She started in radio in 1966 at WBEE in Harvey and went to television two years later on Channel 26. By 1971, she was hosting "The Merri Dee Show," a talk show on Channel 44.
Dee's path to further success blazed a trail for those who came behind her.
"Merri has been a mentor to many women including myself," said Micah Materre, WGN noon news anchor. "She's the epitome of class, giving hope for young African-American women and women in general, and she continues to give her all."
There was a time in Dee's life when she had to drawn on hope for her own well-being. It began on July 17, 1971, a date Dee now calls her second "birthday."
Dee and another show's guest, psychic Alan Sandler, were leaving the Channel 44 station when they were kidnapped at gunpoint, forced to drive to a field on the South Side. They were robbed, then each was shot twice in the head and left for dead. Dee crawled to the roadside and flagged down a car. Sandler died at the hospital. Dee, blinded and paralyzed, was placed in intensive care. In the following days, she would receive the last rites twice.
But a little more than a month later, she was back on her feet and back in her 10:30 p.m. time slot on WSNS.
"Every morning," she said, "I look out the window, and I say, 'Thank you.' "
She made being a victim into motivation for helping other victims of violence. She helped draft a Victims Bill of Rights adopted by Illinois in 1992.
When it is mentioned that hers is the kind of life books get written about, she said, "I'm doing that."
What else?
"Well," she said, "I have parties. Want to come?"
(Chicago Tribune)