Lynn Sherr

Lynn Sherr Speaker Biography

Award-winning Reporter and Best Selling Author

Award-winning broadcaster and author Lynn Sherr worked for ABC News for more than 30 years, including more than 20 as a correspondent with the ABC newsmagazine 20/20.  Reporting for ABC New, she covered a wide range of stories, specializing in women’s issues and social change, and was known for her investigative reporting.

 Best Selling Author

Her new book, SWIM: Why We Love the Water, is a celebration of swimming and the effect it has on our lives. It’s an inquiry into why we swim—the lure, the hold, the timeless magic of being in the water. She is also the author of the memoir Outside the Box: My Unscripted Life of Love, Loss and Television News, Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words; and co-author of Susan B. Anthony Slept Here: A Guide to American Women’s Landmarks. Her best-selling book Tall Blondes offered a perceptive and highly praised look at one of wildlife’s most endearing but little-understood animals—giraffes—and was also the subject of a one-hour documentary for the PBS Nature program. Her best-selling book America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation’s Favorite Song came out in 2001. She conceived and co-edited Peter Jennings: A Reporter’s Life, which was published in 2007. She also wrote the forewords to The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight and Smart Women Don’t Retire: They Break Free.

Experience

Prior to her work at 20/20, Sherr was a national correspondent for ABC News, where she was also part of the network’s political team for every election cycle through 2000. Sherr also reported on the NASA space shuttle program from its inception in 1981 through the Challenger explosion in 1986, anchoring almost every mission from launch to landing.

Before going to ABC in 1977, Sherr was a reporter for WNET-TV in New York and WETA-TV in Washington, DC, both public television stations. Prior to that, she reported for WCBS-TV in New York, The Associated Press in New York, and Condé Nast Publications.

Currently

Today she is a contributing editor at More magazine and a contributing writer for numerous other publications, including Parade, where she did cover stories on Rick Perry, Oprah Winfrey, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Dr. Jill Biden. She can be found online at The Daily Beast and on the air at public radio, and has frequently co-hosted PRI’s "The Takeaway." She is a commissioner on the New York City Commission on Women’s Issues. She is also a member of the selection committee for the John Chancellor Awards. Lynn Sherr is a popular lecturer and public speaker at many venues, including women’s groups, journalism classes, and meetings of cancer professionals.

 In addition, Sherr has published articles in numerous print publications, including The New York Times, Parade, Town & Country, Reader’s Digest, Mademoiselle, House and Garden, and More Magazine.

Awards and Accolades

· An Emmy Award in 1980 for her election coverage

· Two American Women in Radio and Television Commendation Awards – One for her report on the alternative treatment for anorexia and bulimia, and another for the special she hosted, Susan B. Anthony Slept Here

· The Gracie Award

· George Foster Peabody Award for her report on anorexia

· The 1995 National Headliner Award for her report on a highly experimental open-womb surgery

· The Cine Golden Eagle Award

· The 1995 Silver Screen Award for her segment about a young man who revealed to his family that he had AIDS

 Education

 She is a graduate of Wellesley College, where she served as a trustee.