Since High School:
I’ve been incredibly lucky! Life is still interesting and
fun. I’ve learned a lot, had some great times and
some tough times. Most of all, I’ve learned to never
underestimate the role of chance and luck.
When I graduated from the University of Colorado in
1971, I still wanted to be a journalist but-- of course--
hadn’t taken any journalism classes. Duh…too busy
skiing and marching for-or-against one thing or
another.
While teaching school in an innovative district near
Denver, I still wanted to be a journalist, but couldn’t
think of a single reason any news organization would
hire me. I toyed with the idea of going to law school,
thinking a newspaper might hire me to cover the
courts. But it seemed a little silly to spend three
years in school to become a lawyer, when I didn’t
want to be a lawyer. (This actually took me nearly a
year to figure out. I thought I was dumb in high
school!)
I somehow got accepted to Northwestern’s Medill
School of Journalism. My first editor was not
impressed at all with my Master’s Degree, but he was
impressed that I had worked my way through grad
school as a bartender. Ah, remember the old days
when girls weren’t supposed to be bartenders or so
many other things…
I’ve been a “real” journalist ever sense. It has been a
great time. I started as a street reporter in Chicago
and spent 15 years with ABC News. While at ABC I
won William Benton Fellowship to study at the
University of Chicago. Through that relationship, I fell
into a chance to produce documentaries. I’ve been
doing “docs” since 2000-- mostly for national PBS.
Our biography of Nobel Prize winning economist,
Milton Friedman, aired January 29th on PBS. Who
would think that economics could be fun! But it was
fun and we got to travel to South America and
Eastern Europe to see his ideas in action today.
We just finished a show that took us around the
world-- Bangladesh, Ghana, Peru, China and the
former Soviet Republic of Estonia. We spent weeks
with families in rural villages, looking at the kind of
tools they need to help themselves out of poverty--
education, access to credit, free markets, property
rights, etc. It was an amazing experience-- great
poverty, but such dignity, pride and potential.
For the doc’s web page scrapbook, click here.
Even more fun is playing around at home. I love to
travel to odd places, hike, ski, bike, hang out with
friends, and play golf. Yes, I confess-- I love golf!
Had to give up tennis because I ran out of “knees,”
and then, by chance, I won a set of golf clubs.
As soon as things slow down, I have an entire list of
classes I want to take. I even want to take an art
class-- although I should probably take a cooking
class.
A friend told me I can’t retire until I have a list of 20
things to do, and it can’t be 20 golf courses or 20 ski
areas. All ideas are welcome.
I can’t wait to see everyone at the reunion.
I’ve been incredibly lucky! Life is still interesting and
fun. I’ve learned a lot, had some great times and
some tough times. Most of all, I’ve learned to never
underestimate the role of chance and luck.
When I graduated from the University of Colorado in
1971, I still wanted to be a journalist but-- of course--
hadn’t taken any journalism classes. Duh…too busy
skiing and marching for-or-against one thing or
another.
While teaching school in an innovative district near
Denver, I still wanted to be a journalist, but couldn’t
think of a single reason any news organization would
hire me. I toyed with the idea of going to law school,
thinking a newspaper might hire me to cover the
courts. But it seemed a little silly to spend three
years in school to become a lawyer, when I didn’t
want to be a lawyer. (This actually took me nearly a
year to figure out. I thought I was dumb in high
school!)
I somehow got accepted to Northwestern’s Medill
School of Journalism. My first editor was not
impressed at all with my Master’s Degree, but he was
impressed that I had worked my way through grad
school as a bartender. Ah, remember the old days
when girls weren’t supposed to be bartenders or so
many other things…
I’ve been a “real” journalist ever sense. It has been a
great time. I started as a street reporter in Chicago
and spent 15 years with ABC News. While at ABC I
won William Benton Fellowship to study at the
University of Chicago. Through that relationship, I fell
into a chance to produce documentaries. I’ve been
doing “docs” since 2000-- mostly for national PBS.
Our biography of Nobel Prize winning economist,
Milton Friedman, aired January 29th on PBS. Who
would think that economics could be fun! But it was
fun and we got to travel to South America and
Eastern Europe to see his ideas in action today.
We just finished a show that took us around the
world-- Bangladesh, Ghana, Peru, China and the
former Soviet Republic of Estonia. We spent weeks
with families in rural villages, looking at the kind of
tools they need to help themselves out of poverty--
education, access to credit, free markets, property
rights, etc. It was an amazing experience-- great
poverty, but such dignity, pride and potential.
For the doc’s web page scrapbook, click here.
Even more fun is playing around at home. I love to
travel to odd places, hike, ski, bike, hang out with
friends, and play golf. Yes, I confess-- I love golf!
Had to give up tennis because I ran out of “knees,”
and then, by chance, I won a set of golf clubs.
As soon as things slow down, I have an entire list of
classes I want to take. I even want to take an art
class-- although I should probably take a cooking
class.
A friend told me I can’t retire until I have a list of 20
things to do, and it can’t be 20 golf courses or 20 ski
areas. All ideas are welcome.
I can’t wait to see everyone at the reunion.
Kathy Anderson
1963
1967
2007