Lynne Russell

Russell attended the University of Colorado, where she majored in nursing. In 1971 she became program director and host of an interview show at WKAT-TV in Miami. She left in 1978 to become an anchor and reporter at WTLV-TV in Jacksonville. After a year working at a TV station in Honolulu, Russell became evening news anchor at KENS-TV in San Antonio. In 1983 she joined CNN Headline News as prime-time weekday anchor, becoming the first woman to be a regular solo anchor of a daily prime-time newscast on network television. She left CNN in 2001. A licensed private investigator and bodyguard, a Fulton County deputy sheriff, and a holder of two black belts in Choi Kwang Do, Russell is the author of How to Win Friends, Kick Ass & Influence People.