We noted the death last week of former ABC and CBS reporter Marlene Sanders.
The many articles about her career that appeared over the weekend uniformly identified her as one of the first women to break through barriers that had previously prevented women from pursuing careers in television news. A Sunday New York Times article points out Sanders faced many of the same obstacles women of her era faced regardless of the professional field they chose. In television however, there was always the fear her time on air would be cut short simply as a result of aging. It’s noted that even today, the Times story on Sanders appeared in the style section.
Sanders is the mother of Jeffrey Toobin, a well known writer and commentator on the Supreme Court and legal issues.
The Times article carried with it a photo of Sanders taken in Vietnam in the 1960’s which is reminiscent of another trail blazing woman from a previous generation; Margaret Bourke-White.
