Pioneering journalist Shana Alexander dies

[Spinzonner]

The Associated Press
Updated: 8:38 a.m. ET June 24, 2005

LOS ANGELES - Trailblazing journalist Shana Alexander, whose verbal skirmishes with conservative James J. Kilpatrick on CBS’ “60 Minutes” were spoofed in a “Saturday Night Live” skit, has died of cancer. She was 79.

Alexander died Thursday at an assisted living facility in Hermosa Beach, said her niece, Hannah Bentley.

Alexander wrote for magazines including Newsweek and National Geographic and was the first female staff writer employed by Life magazine. She was also the first female editor at McCall’s magazine.

But Alexander was best known for her “Count-Counterpoint” segments with Kilpatrick at the end of each “60 Minutes” broadcast in the late 1970s.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8340821/

(And, of course, part of the inspiration for the Dan Akyrod-Jane Curtain 'debates' on SNL that gave us the famous quote: "Jane, you ignorant slut")

(Hopefully not too old but I couldn't find it posted previously)

[Gloria]

1. I remember Shana well...RIP, Shana...you fought the good fight...

Didn't she have the backpage of Newsweek for a while??

[OKNancy]

2. She also wrote some good non-fiction

one of my favorite all time True Crime books, The Nutcracker.


snip from a short bio:
Her non-fiction includes Anyone's Daughter about Patty Hearst, The Pizza Connection about Mafia connections to illegal drugs, and Very Much a Lady and The Nutcracker about, respectively, murderers Jean Harris and Frances Schreuder. The Nutcracker was made into a miniseries in 1987, starring Lee Remick and Inga Swenson.

[mitchum]

9. "The Nutcracker" is a very good true crime account

I just re-read it last month.

[MaineDem]

3. Point-Counterpoint was a highlight of "60 Minutes"

The show hasn't been the same since.

Rest in peace, Shana.

[Spinzonner]

4. I wonder if they'll say anything at the end of the next edition

[bunkerbuster1]

17. They'd better! (eom)

[Skittles]

5. classic TV, it was

yes indeed

[tmooses]

6. Those counterpoints were great. Do you remember the take-offs

on SNL with Dan Ackroyd and Jane Curtin? RIP Jane, you fought the good fight for the side of justice.

[LosinIt]

15. Jane, you ignorant slut!

How could I forget?

[Hekate]

7. She wrote for Life magazine in the 1960s

The article I remember best was a first-person account of her taking the preliminary test for Mensa, which was getting some national press at the time. She wrote about attending some social gatherings, but left it up in the air whether she ever decided to test in and become a member.

That and another article in Reader's Digest led this curious high-schooler to check it out...

Thanks, Shana. My second (and final) husband is an M I met at a local get-together many years later. Life is never dull.

Hekate

[fortyfeetunder]

8. I loved watching her spar Kirkpatrick

that was the highlight of watching 60 Minutes. Thanks Shana for the goodtimes....

[norml]

10. Shana Alexander, 79, Dies; Passionate Debater on TV

Shana Alexander, 79, Dies; Passionate Debater on TV


By MARGALIT FOX
Published: June 25, 2005

Shana Alexander, a journalist and television personality best known as the liberal sparring partner of the conservative commentator James J. Kilpatrick on the television newsmagazine "60 Minutes" in the 1970's, died on Thursday in Hermosa Beach, Calif. She was 79 and had lived in Manhattan and Wainscott, N.Y., for many years.



CBS, via Associated Press
Shana Alexander in 1977.


The cause was cancer, her family said. She had been in an assisted living facility.

A former columnist for Newsweek and Life magazines, Ms. Alexander joined "60 Minutes" in 1975 as the liberal voice of its debate segment, "Point/Counterpoint." Once a week for nearly five years, she and Mr. Kilpatrick, a columnist for The Washington Star, locked horns over some of the most divisive issues of the day, including drugs, women's liberation and the Vietnam War. "60 Minutes" dropped the segment in 1979.

Ms. Alexander also wrote several nonfiction books, including "Anyone's Daughter" (Viking, 1979), about Patty Hearst; "Very Much a Lady: The Untold Story of Jean Harris and Dr. Herman Tarnower" (Little, Brown, 1983); and "When She Was Bad" (Random House, 1990), about the Bess Myerson conspiracy trial.



snip



http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/arts/television/25alexander.html

[Piperay]

11. R-I-P Shana

I hate it when liberals die, we need them now more than ever. :cry:

[MADem]

12. Total bummer

She was the basis for the "Jane, you ignorant slut" skits on SNL with Jane Curtin and Dan Ackroyd, which were quite groundbreaking for the times (the word 'slut' alone was a guaranteed shocker back then). It was a big deal when she joined the program, as women were just breaking into television news (previously they did fashion segments and cooking shows). She was a fine looking woman, and smart, too.

[oasis]

13. A great lady. I can still remember Kilpatrick trying to get his point

across. "Shana, Shana!!" he would bellow excitedly.

[ngGale]

14. Shana was a real journalist, we need women like her ...

on our side. This is so sad, she was a real gem. RIP - Shana

[bunkerbuster1]

16. You done good, Ms. Alexander.

Although it's sobering to realize that, at the time, the format of those "Counterpoint" segments seemed energetic, and perhaps a tad superficial. Viewed now next to today's idiotic corporate media food-fights, I'm sure they'd seem remarkably civilized and nuanced.

I always looked forward to seeing her square off with Kilpatrick. And yeah, I loved the SNL parody as well.