Rene Syler
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René Syler (born February 17, 1963) cohosted CBS News’ The Early Show from October 2002, when it debuted in its four-anchor format, until she was terminated from the program in late 2006. She has interviewed First Lady Laura Bush, former President Jimmy Carter, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Senator John McCain and NASA’s first female shuttle commander, Eileen Collins, as well as celebrities including Melissa Etheridge and Prince.
[edit] Background
Syler was born at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, and grew up near Sacramento, California. She graduated from Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, California, and California State University at Sacramento in 1987 with a degree in psychology.
Syler began her career in journalism as a weekend reporter at KTVN-TV in Reno, Nevada from 1987 to 1989. She then became a weekend anchor at KOLO-TV until 1990, when she moved to Birmingham, Alabama to become the weekend anchor at WVTM-TV. In 1992 she became the morning and noon anchor at WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas. From 1997 to 2002 she anchored newscasts at KTVT, a CBS-owned station in Dallas.
Syler is an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists, and is a recipient of the 2004 Gracie Allen Award for Individual Achievement in the National Best Anchor category for her breast cancer series. Even before her breast cancer scare, Syler was very active in numerous breast cancer causes. The American Women in Radio and Television also awarded her Television Personality of the Year in 1997.
Syler's final day on the Early Show was on December 22nd, 2006, after announcing that she was about to undergo a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy, which was successful. She is now in the process of publishing a new book, "Good Enough Mother," which is due out in March.
Syler was actually fired from the Early Show before her departure in December 2006 as noted in the following quote from an interview on WGN News at Noon on April 11, 2007 while being interviewed about her new book and asked about her why she decided to have a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy:
"Yes, it really was. It was absolutely about wanting to stay around for my children. I had a very strong family history of breast cancer with both a mother and father with breast cancer which always gives doctors a cause for concern when it's a father. I had my own breast disease diagnosed in 2003, hyperplasia atypia which is widely seen as a stage right before breast cancer. And after 4 biopsies in 4 years, it just was too much. And so I made the decision in January to have a prophylactic mastectomy. All of this was happening as I got fired from my job on the Early Show at CBS and was having my breast removed. And you know what, I felt like it made me stronger and I didn't know that's how strong I was."
[edit] Personal
Syler is married to Buff Parham, with whom she has two children. She lives in Chappaqua, New York.
[edit] External links
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