Leslie Griffith

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. 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. Graff, Amy (August 11, 2022). "KTVU anchor Leslie Griffith dies 'from the effects of Lyme Disease'". SFGate. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  3. 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. "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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