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CNN's Lynne Russell
Opens Speaker Series
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View the archived webcast
"Good afternoon,
it's 13 degrees past four…"
These words launched
Lynne Russell's career. The former CNN Headline News anchor resigned
last year after 18 years with the network. Fans adored her engaging
personality and for "talking to the people."
Russell spoke to
an audience of 200 on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at UNC Pembroke's Givens
Performing Arts Center.
Known for her fiery
red lips, she did not disappoint the UNCP crowd when she walked onstage
with red hair, red nails and signature lipstick.
Russell was the
first solo woman anchor during a daily primetime newscast. Fans loved
her changing hairstyles, good looks, authoritative demeanor and sincerity.
Her risqué side emerged with photos in Playboy and playful suggestions
to former president Bill Clinton in the White House Rose Garden.
Russell left CNN
last year to pursue other interests and write a second book. Her first
book, "How to Win Friends, Kick Ass & Influence People,"
came out in 1999.
 Russell
encouraged people in the audience to "color outside the lines"
and to have many hobbies and interests in case their careers do not
work out. She said that it takes nerves and support to get away from
the norm, and "when you rock the boat, you are going to get a lot
of happy days…and sleepless nights."
The former news
anchor lives by her message of keeping doors open and exploring new
roads in life. She is a deputy sheriff in Fulton County, Georgia, a
private investigator, personal bodyguard, licensed scuba diver and holds
two black belts in the martial
art Choi Kwang Do.
The New York Times
described her as a "news anchor with the personality of a professional
wrestler." She told embarrassing and funny tales of life behind
the scenes at CNN, and showed a video of bloopers of herself and other
anchors during newscasts.
"The best way
to get over making a mistake is to watch someone else screw up,"
she said.
At one point, Russell
donned latex gloves to handle samples of mail from her "Nut File."
Stalkers have sent foreign coins, Hitler stamps, a handful of human
hair, crude drawings of her or themselves and letters describing delusional
romances between them.
 "You
don't understand, these people are serious," she said
Russell said the
biggest risk in life is not taking one and that experience is the best
learning tool. Lastly, if things are just not going well, she said,
"there's nothing that 20 minutes in Victoria Secrets won't fix."
"Live life
to the fullest, don't stop questioning and stay interested in your world,"
she said to conclude her speech.
Russell was the
first speaker of the school's 2002-03 Distinguished
Speaker Series. Actor and director Henry Winkler will appear Nov.
12, activist Jane Elliot on Oct. 9, and legendary actor James Earl Jones
will speak Feb. 18, 2003. The series wraps up with actress Rita Moreno
on March 11 and UNCP's own Kelvin Sampson April 28.
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