She's still the benchmark for me among major network news anchors. When I think news I think of her before Rathers, Cronkite, Brinkley, and certainly any of the buffoons anchoring news today. At her peak, she just "had it". But she was so driven she burned out early and then the tragic end to her life just as she had apparently found happiness. One of the most beautiful women ever, too.
She was a good broadcaster in Philly and she even did some special reporting. She had great camera appeal and the audience lover her. When she went national, we saw her less and less and she essentially became news-reader, which is a job that most TV news people do today. A few escape this trap and venture forth into interviewing and doing specials. I think Jessica should have stayed in Philly.
And she really seemed happy in Philly. I think she may have been in over her head when she went national and really was unable to handle it all, maybe that is why she got into the drug use.
Her dream was to be the first female anchor on one of the majors BY THIRTY and she did make it. There was not gonna be anything that would stop her ambition, and she delivered. However, I beleive Barbara Walters beat her to being the very first female anchor.
I remember her when she was in Philly,and then she moved to work nationally for NBC. I had some fantasies about her,I thought she was the prettiest tv reporter on channel 3,besides Beverly Williams back many years ago. It was an unfortunate tragedy that happened to her.
Jessica is 32 here. Not a trace of a teen/college vibe, people seriously must have grown up fast back then (Boomers) cause she seemed middle-aged, like she probably wasn't even listening to the current music, lol.
@robatsea2009 I seem to remember it was a drowning in an automobile. If I am not mistaken it was a wrong turn during a rain storm into a canal in New Hope, PA.
Her name came up in a book I'm reading. I don't think I knew or at least I don't recall her death. In my memories she had just moved on in life, to something else. How tragic to read of her accidental death. I thought she was probably an old woman some place now approaching death. 😞
+RuBy Ellen London I remember hearing about her death and it was so shocking to a young boy who was used to seeing her each night. That was my first brush with the fact that "even TV people die."
I can see the similarity between Jessica Savitch and Veronica Corningstone from "Anchorman". Apparently Will Ferrell wrote the part based on Jessica and her struggles in a male dominated profession back in the day.
I hope y'all will reply to this when we were watching NBC Nightly News Saturday and it began with Jessica Savitch anchoring papa would say there's that savage...RIP Pope John Paul II..he's now a saint
@jessica56786789 She was driving out of a restaurant parking lot after dark. She drove out the wrong driveway and it turned out to be a narrow road next to a canal. She couldn't see exactly where she was going because of the weather and drove into the canal. The car flipped over and she was unable to get out.
Canal should have had a guard rail or secure barrier!! Just awful. The family did sue and got money. Rightfully so. Jessica was not the driver. It was her companion Martin Fishbein.
Dan P Yugoslavia was a country made up after WW1. It was a huge mistake because they thought that putting all the Slavs together was a good thing (Yugoslavia means "all the Slavs") only to find out that there was bitter hatred among the various groups...Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Montenegrin, Bosnian, Herzegovinian, to name a few, just never got along together and after their leader, Marshall Tito died, all the ethnic hatreds boiled over eventually leading to Yugoslavia's breakup into a half dozen countries and war.
Yes it was a 'car accident' but it wasn't really. Her driver drove into a tiny space that dropped, got submerged, she could not open a door. No sun roof. She was doomed to drown. Look it up. It was tragic. I knew Jessica's sister at the time. This was a tragedy,
