Richard Threlkeld (November 30, 1937 – January 13, 2012) was an American

television news News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or tel ...

correspondent who spent 25 years with

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

Early life

Threlkeld was born in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

, and grew up in

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Lake County, Illinois, Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area featu ...

. He earned a degree in history and political science from Ripon College. He then earned a master's degree from Medill School of Journalism at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Career

Threlkeld held positions at

WHAS-TV WHAS-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on West Chestnut Street in Downtown Louisville, and its transmitter is located in rur ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, and WMT-TV in

. He joined CBS News in 1966 and served as a war correspondent in Vietnam in 1970. Threlkeld stayed with CBS until December 1981, serving as co-anchor of the ''

CBS Morning News ''CBS News Mornings'' (formerly ''CBS Morning News'') is an American early-morning news broadcast presented weekdays on the CBS television network. The program features late-breaking news stories, national weather forecasts and sports highlight ...

'' (with Lesley Stahl) from 1977 to 1979. He covered

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

's visit to Mexico in 1979. Threlkeld went to

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

in 1982 and was given the special assignment of filing a weekly ''Status Report'' segment for World News Tonight, which sought to give a deeper perspective to the week's most important story. In that role, he reported on the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

, the invasion of Lebanon and many other domestic and international issues. ''Status Reports'' won a DuPont-Columbia Award in 1983. After seven years at ABC, Threlkeld returned to CBS in 1989 and remained there until his retirement in 1999. During his news career, Threlkeld also covered the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, the

Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, and the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

. In the United States he covered such stories as the Robert F. Kennedy assassination and the Patty Hearst kidnapping, as well as numerous political campaigns. Threlkeld's last assignment before retirement was as CBS News

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

correspondent. Threlkeld authored the book ''Dispatches from the Former Evil Empire'' in 2001.

Personal life

His wife, Betsy Aaron, was

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Moscow correspondent at the same time. He and his wife retired to

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Death

Threlkeld was killed in an automobile accident on January 13, 2012, in Amagansett, New York. His 2008

Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

convertible collided with a propane truck. He was 74.

References

External links

Medill at Northwestern Hall of Achievement (Richard Threlkeld)Threlkeld reporting from Vietnam in 1970
{{DEFAULTSORT:Threlkeld, Richard 1937 births 2012 deaths American television news anchors American television reporters and correspondents American war correspondents of the Vietnam War American male journalists Journalists from Iowa ABC News CBS News people Writers about the Soviet Union People from Barrington, Illinois Writers from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni Medill School of Journalism alumni Road incident deaths in New York (state) 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American writers Delta Upsilon members