Daryn Kagan
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Daryn A. Kagan (born January 26, 1963) is the founder and host of DarynKagan.com. Before launching her website, Kagan was a news anchor and reporter for CNN. Most recently, Kagan was the host of the CNN news show CNN Live Today shown at 10 AM Eastern Time. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, she had been an employee of CNN since 1994.
On August 3, 2006, Kagan told her colleagues at CNN that she would be leaving the network and would launch her website. Variety Magazine subsequently reported that CNN declined to renew Kagan's contract. In her first post-CNN interview, Kagan discussed leaving CNN with U.S. News & World Report.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Kagan grew up in Southern California. When talking about her childhood on the air, Kagan said that she was the "best-behaved teenager in Southern California." She is a 1981 graduate of Beverly Hills High School and a 1985 graduate of Stanford University, where she double majored in American Studies and Communications.
[edit] Career
After graduating from Stanford Kagan sent out hundreds of demo tapes. Kagan was eventually hired for an on-air job in a Santa Barbara television station, KEYT-TV. She got laid off following a difference of opinion with management. Kagan's next move was to a general assignment reporting position at KTVK in Phoenix. Wanting to do something other than report typical local news stories each weekday, she took it upon herself to take on additional duties reporting sports during the weekend.
After KTVK did not renew her contract, CNN's then head of sports reporting, Jim Walton, hired Kagan as a sports correspondent in 1994. Kagan went on to be featured in areas besides sports. She briefly was a reporter for a personal finance show. Rick Kaplan, former head of operations for CNN, promoted Kagan to an anchor position. Kagan was also host of People in the News when that show debuted.
Since becoming an anchor, Kagan reported on presidential elections, the second Gulf War, and the Washington, D.C. sniper story. She traveled to Africa with musician Bono where she reported on AIDS and famine. Kagan was on the air during the terrorist attacks on the morning of September 11, 2001. Additionally she hosted several pre-Oscars shows and coverage of the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Kagan left CNN on September 1, 2006. She launched her online venture on November 13, 2006[1]. Two days after the launch, Kagan's site featured an author whose book moved from from approximately the 100,000th position in the Amazon.com book sales list to 646th position in the one single day after the apppearance on Kagan's site.
[edit] Personal life
Kagan is Jewish. She grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in Beverly Hills;[1]. Her great-grandfather was a Russian immigrant named Eiser Cohen who came to the United States through Ellis Island. Her mother, Phyllis Kagan, is a breast cancer survivor who has appeared on CNN discussing the disease.
Kagan is athletic. She is an avid runner. She has described her regimen in a magazine article. Somewhat of a daredevil, while working at a Phoenix television station, Kagan did a feature on bungee jumping featuring herself jumping from a bridge. She has raced NASCAR class cars for charity.
As a former sports reporter, Kagan retains a strong interest in professional sports. She can sometimes be heard on ESPN sports radio providing her insight. When Kagan was on CNN, she stated she was a NASCAR fan. She subsequently denied she is a NASCAR "junkie", but she stated that she could chat as "a casual gearhead".
In September 2004, Kagan became romantically involved with radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. During his October 6, 2005, show, Limbaugh mentioned he received an email message from his "mistress in Georgia" that praised a speech by George W. Bush. CNN subsequently denied Kagan made the statements attributed by Limbaugh to his "mistress in Georgia." Kagan and Limbaugh broke up in February 2006.[2]
According to her former co-anchor Leon Harris, Kagan "has gotten a lot of mileage" out of her resemblance to actress Sandra Bullock.
Kagan has adopted two three-legged cats, Tripod and I-Lean, and a dog, Darla Louise, from rescue shelters.
Despite hitting her 40s, Kagan refers to herself as a "girl".
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Yahoo Group for Daryn Kagan
- Essay written by Daryn Kagan in Stanford Magazine, a publication for Stanford alumni
- Screenshot captures of Daryn Kagan
- DarynKagan.com Kagan's business website
