LAT: Colleagues Pay Final Tribute to Peter Jennings

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Colleagues Pay Final Tribute to Peter Jennings
At a memorial, speakers talk of the ABC anchor's love of life and family. 'Each day is, above all else, a day without him,' says his son.

By Matea Gold, Times Staff Writer


NEW YORK — Peter Jennings' four-decade career as a network television reporter and anchor made him a national media star, but those who knew the ABC newsman best remembered him Tuesday in deeply personal terms, recalling the "goofy" father who loved to dance the jitterbug while cooking and the man of quiet generosity who took a personal interest in the homeless living in Central Park.

A two-hour memorial service, held at Carnegie Hall a little more than a month after the 67-year-old anchor died of lung cancer, focused less on his work as a broadcast journalist and more on recollections of his private life by family, friends and colleagues....

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About 2,000 people filled the gilded auditorium for the emotional celebration of Jennings' life, including nearly all of the top television network executives and journalists: NBC anchor Brian Williams, "Today" co-hosts Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, former CBS anchor Dan Rather, current CBS anchor Bob Schieffer, "Good Morning America" co-hosts Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, CNN anchor Aaron Brown and PBS interviewer Charlie Rose. (Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw was caring for his mother in California and could not attend.) New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was in attendance, as was his predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Performers included cellist Yo-Yo Ma and jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.

"From the time I first met Peter 41 years ago until our last meeting a few weeks ago, I felt a thrill whenever I saw him," said Ted Koppel, host of ABC's "Nightline." "Not many people have genuine charisma, that kind of animal magnetism that makes it difficult to focus on anyone else in the room. Peter had that."

Jennings' death Aug. 7, just four months after he announced his diagnosis, has been a major blow to ABC. The network has still not settled on who will replace him as anchor of "World News Tonight."...


http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/la-na-jennings21sep21,0,2741903.story?coll=la-tot-promo&track=morenews