Leslie Ray Griffith (January 1, 1956 – August 10, 2022) was an American writer and journalist. She worked for 22 years at KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area as a reporter and as a news anchor.

Early life

Born in Tomball, Texas, Griffith worked her way through college as a single mother, working as a cleaner.[1]

Career

She began her career in the newspaper business as a journalist for the Associated Press and the Denver Post. Her first television jobs were in Grand Junction, Colorado, and in the Monterey-Salinas market of California. In 1986 she became a weekend reporter and anchor at KTVU in Oakland, California; in March 1996 she became co-anchor of the Ten O'Clock News with Dennis Richmond.[2][3] For nine years she was sole anchor of the weekend news; on her 25th birthday, she was in Moscow reporting on the Cold War. She resigned from the station in 2006, after 22 years.[3][4]

She continued to write for news publications, including The Huffington Post[5] and the San Francisco Chronicle[6][7]

For many years, she was concerned with the problem of tuberculosis in circus elephants.[6] She published an article on the issue in 2007[8] and later wrote and directed the award-winning documentary, When Giants Fall.[9]

In 2005, she established the Leslie R. Griffith Woman of Courage Scholarship to help young women.[1]

She had a small part as a TV anchor in the 1999 film True Crime.[10]

Personal life and death

Griffith and her first husband divorced after two years of marriage.[1] She had two daughters and a son. She died on August 10, 2022, in Lake Chapala, Mexico, from the effects Lyme disease, which she had contracted in 2015; she moved to Mexico in 2016.[2][6]

Awards

  • Casey Award for "Candy Kids" with Roland De Wolk at KTVU, 1998.[11]
  • Emmy for Election Night coverage with KTVU News, 2001.[12]
  • Emmy for "My 20th Century: The Battle for California" for KTVU, 2001.[13]
  • Emmy for On Camera News Anchor, 2002.[14]
  • Emmy for "Lost Children of Romania" with KTVU, 2003.[15]
  • Genesis Award for KTVU's Ten O'Clock News "Circus Elephants" feature on the treatment of circus elephants at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, 2004.[16]
  • APTRA Award for Best Anchor, 2005.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Alex Horvath, "Community: Redwood High program helps teenage moms / KTVU news anchor Leslie Griffith establishes Women of Courage Scholarship to foster success", SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle), June 24, 2005.
  2. 1 2 Graff, Amy (August 11, 2022). "KTVU anchor Leslie Griffith dies 'from the effects of Lyme Disease'". SFGate. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Chuck Barney (November 17, 2006). "Leslie Griffith resigns at KTVU". East Bay Times.
  4. ↑ Andrea Lampros, "Broadcast Blues: Former KTVU anchor Leslie Griffith says if television news is in trouble, so are we",The Monthly, November 2008.
  5. ↑ The Huffington Post: Leslie Griffith
  6. 1 2 3 "Longtime KTVU anchor and reporter Leslie Griffith dies". KTVU. August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Notables at the Chronicle", Columbia Journalism Review
  8. ↑ Leslie Griffith, "The Elephant in the Room", Truthout.org.
  9. ↑ When Giants Fall, Internet Movie Database.
  10. ↑ Full cast, True Crime, Internet Movie Database
  11. ↑ 1998 Casey Award Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine "Candy Kids" (Search for "TV: Short Form" and "1998")
  12. ↑ 2001 Emmy – ON CAMERA NEWS – ANCHORS Archived September 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Election Night News KTVU
  13. ↑ 2001 Emmy – CULTURAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM Archived September 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine My 20th Century: The Battle for California with Leslie Donaldson, Producer; Leslie Griffith, Anchor; Faith Fancher, Diane Guerrazzi, Bob MacKenzie, Reporters; Steve Shilsky, Editor
  14. ↑ 2002 Emmy ON CAMERA NEWS – ANCHORS
  15. ↑ 2003 Emmy – SERIOUS NEWS FEATURE-SERIES Lost Children of Romania KTVU
  16. ↑ Diablo Magazine report on Genesis winners
  17. ↑ 2005 APTRA – BEST ANCHOR, OR ANCHOR TEAM Archived April 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
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