Connie Lawn

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Connie Lawn
Connie Lawn in 2007.jpg
Born
Constance Ellen Lawn

(1944-05-14)May 14, 1944
Died (aged 73)
Occupation(s)Radio journalist, member of
the White House press corps
Years active1967–2018

Constance Ellen Lawn ONZM (May 14, 1944 – April 2, 2018) was an American broadcast journalist. Lawn had a brief career in politics, working for a congressman and the 1968 Eugene McCarthy presidential campaign before entering journalism.

Contents

She reported from Washington for several international clients and was appointed an honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2012 in recognition of her work. At the time of her death she was the longest-serving White House correspondent.

Early life

Of Russian Jewish descent, Lawn was born in New Jersey to Howard Martin Lawn (1911–2000), a businessman who was president of Parkmobile Inc., and the Equity and Capital Company, [1] and Pearl H. Bergman (1913–1989), a chemist and homemaker. Both her parents were staunch Democrats. [1] [2] [3]

Her paternal grandfather, Sal Simon Lawn (1884–1969), [4] was a Republican, who served as sergeant-at-arms for the Second Judicial Court and was a veteran of World War I. [5]

Lawn was raised with her brother, Richard, and elder sister, Margo Rose (1940–1981). [2] [6] [7]

She was the first and only girl to play for the Long Branch Little League in 1956. In 1962, Lawn graduated from Long Branch High School, and went on to receive a bachelor's degree in political science from Simmons College in 1966; [7] she later moved to Washington, D.C. [3] She was also a graduate of the L'In stitut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. [8]

Political and reporting career

Lawn briefly worked for a U.S. congressman [ who? ] and served as a volunteer for Eugene McCarthy's 1968 presidential campaign before becoming a reporter for a news station in Washington, D.C. [3] She spent her career as an unaffiliated journalist, unlike many of her fellow White House correspondents, and was the founder and sole employee of Audio Video News. [3]

She reported for several clients in the United States and around the world. Her international radio clients included networks in the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Israel, and South Africa. In the 2012 New Year Honours, she was appointed an honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of her services to New Zealand–United States relations. [9] [10]

This included writing articles for the US market promoting tourism to New Zealand and its ski resorts. [9] Lawn also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Press Club of New Zealand and had a champion race-horse named after her in that country. [9]

Lawn covered Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign, travelling with him across the United States. She conducted one of the last interviews with Kennedy before his assassination in Los Angeles on June 5 of that year. [3] Later that year, whilst reporting on the riots and protests around the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Lawn was beaten by Chicago police officers. [9] She covered the 1968 Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia from Prague, the Watergate scandal of 1972, and the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981. [3] [9] At around the time of the 1982 Lebanon War, Lawn avoided an attempted abduction in Lebanon by hitting her attacker in the face with a bag and escaping to Israeli soldiers. [3]

At the time of her death Lawn was the longest-serving White House correspondent. [9] [10] She attended her last press briefing on December 14, 2017, a few months before her death. [3]

Personal life

Lawn's first marriage was in November 1973 [11] to Stephen Rappaport, a certified public accountant. [8] [11] They had two sons; their marriage later ended in a divorce. She married Charles A. Sneiderman in 2000. [3] [12]

She was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011, and died on April 2, 2018, aged 73, in Falls Church, Virginia. In addition to her husband, she is survived by a brother, Richard Lawn; two sons from her first marriage, Daniel and David Rappaport; and two grandchildren. [9] [10] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Chung</span> American TV journalist (born 1946)

Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich is an American journalist who has been a news anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S. representative Gary Condit, whom Chung interviewed first after the Chandra Levy disappearance, and basketball legend Magic Johnson after he went public about being HIV-positive. In 1993, she became the second woman to co-anchor a network newscast as part of CBS Evening News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constance (given name)</span> Constance is a name given to female meaning a loyal person

Constance is a primarily feminine given name in use since the Middle Ages that is derived either from Constantia, a Late Latin name, or from the term meaning steadfast. In medieval England, diminutives of the name included Cust or Cussot. Puritans used Con, Constant, and Constancy. Other variations of the name include Connie, Constancia, and Constanze.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilary Rosen</span> American lobbyist

Hilary Rosen is the former head of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She was a columnist for The Washington Post, became the first Washington editor-at-large and political director of The Huffington Post, and has provided political commentary for CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dee Dee Myers</span> American political analyst and press secretary

Margaret Jane "Dee Dee" Myers is an American political analyst who served as the 19th White House Press Secretary during the first two years of the Clinton administration. She was the first woman and the second-youngest person to hold that position. Myers later co-hosted the news program Equal Time on CNBC, and was a consultant on The West Wing. She was the inspiration for fictional White House Press Secretary C. J. Cregg. She is also the author of the 2008 New York Times best-selling book, Why Women Should Rule the World. In 2020, she joined the Gavin Newsom administration as Senior Advisor to the Governor and Director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicki Morgan</span> American model

Victoria Lynn Morgan was the mistress of Alfred S. Bloomingdale, heir to the Bloomingdale's department store fortune. The details of their tumultuous relationship became known after Morgan sued Bloomingdale's estate for palimony in 1982. Morgan was murdered in 1983 by Marvin Pancoast, her roommate and occasional lover who was sentenced to prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Woodruff</span> American broadcast journalist (born 1946)

Judy Carline Woodruff is an American broadcast journalist who has worked in local, network, cable, and public television news since 1970. She was the anchor and managing editor of the PBS NewsHour through the end of 2022. Woodruff has covered every presidential election and convention since 1976. She has interviewed several heads of state and moderated U.S. presidential debates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Morella</span> American politician (born 1931)

Constance Morella is an American politician and diplomat. She represented Maryland's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 2003. She served as Permanent Representative from the U.S. to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2003 to 2007. She is on American University's faculty as an Ambassador in Residence for the Women & Politics Institute. She was appointed to the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) by President Barack Obama in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constance Spry</span> British florist and educator

Constance Spry was a British educator, florist and author in the mid-20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Mezvinsky</span> American politician and convicted felon

Edward Maurice Mezvinsky is an American politician and lawyer from Iowa. He is a former U.S. Representative and felon. A Democrat, he represented Iowa's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms (1973–77).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Britton</span> American actress (born 1967)

Connie Britton is an American actress. Britton made her feature film debut in the independent comedy-drama film The Brothers McMullen (1995), and the following year, she was cast as Nikki Faber on the ABC sitcom Spin City. She later starred in the short-lived sitcoms The Fighting Fitzgeralds (2001) and Lost at Home (2003), and appeared in several films, most notably the sports drama film Friday Night Lights (2004) and the thriller film The Last Winter (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norah O'Donnell</span> American television journalist

Norah Morahan O'Donnell is an American television journalist who is the anchor of the CBS Evening News, a correspondent for 60 Minutes, and host of Person to Person. She has worked with several mainstream media outlets throughout her career, including as former co-anchor of CBS This Morning, Chief White House Correspondent for CBS News, and a substitute host for CBS's Sunday morning show Face the Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd S. Purdum</span> American journalist (born 1959)

Todd Stanley Purdum is an American journalist who works as a national editor and political correspondent for Vanity Fair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlene Mitchell</span> American politician (1930–2022)

Charlene Alexander Mitchell was an American international socialist, feminist, labor and civil rights activist. In 1968, she became the first Black woman candidate for President of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Purdue</span> New Zealand trade unionist

Constance Miriam Purdue was a New Zealand trade unionist. Formerly a communist and a Labour Party member, she later became a conservative Catholic and an anti-abortion activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolle Wallace</span> American TV political commentator (born 1972)

Nicolle Wallace is an American television political commentator and author. She is the anchor of the MSNBC news and politics program Deadline: White House and a former co-host of the ABC daytime talk show The View. Wallace is a political analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. She was previously a frequent on-air contributor to the programs Today, The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, and Morning Joe, before hosting her own program on MSNBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constance H. Williams</span> American politician (born 1944)

Constance Hess Williams is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 17th District, from 2001 to 2009. She previously represented the 149th district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1997 to 2001. On June 23, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated her for member of the National Council on the Arts, an advisory board to the chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konni (dog)</span> Labrador Retriever owned by Vladimir Putin

Connie Paulgrave, also known as Konni, was a female black Labrador Retriever belonging to Vladimir Putin. She was often at his side, including at meetings between him and various world leaders during their visits to Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bianna Golodryga</span> American journalist (born 1978)

Bianna Vitalievna Golodryga is a Soviet-born American news anchor and journalist. She currently co-anchors One World with Zain Asher on CNN International and CNN Max. She previously served as a senior global affairs analyst at CNN, and as news and finance anchor at Yahoo! News. Golodryga also co-anchored the weekend edition of Good Morning America and co-hosted CBS This Morning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. Wallis Myers</span>

Arthur Wallis Myers was an English tennis correspondent, editor, author and player. He was one of the leading tennis journalists of the first half of the 20th century.

References

  1. 1 2 Reinhardt, Charlene (July 23, 2011). "Howard M. Lawn (1911–2000)". Genealogy.com.
  2. 1 2 Myers 2000, p. 289.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Slotnik, Daniel E. (April 3, 2018). "Connie Lawn obituary". The New York Times.
  4. Reinhardt, Charlene (July 23, 2011). "Re: Sal Lawn (1884–1969)". Genealogy.com.
  5. Myers 2000, p. 288.
  6. "Margo Neumann". Geni.com. December 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Lawn, Connie (December 14, 2016). "Long Branch Day For Connie Lawn". HuffPost.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. 1 2 "Constance E. Lawn Is Married Here". New York Times Archives. November 12, 1973. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Veteran White House reporter Connie Lawn dies aged 73". Radio New Zealand. April 3, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 "Connie Lawn's Obituary". Scoop.co.nz. April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  11. 1 2 Lawn 2000, p. 114.
  12. "Connie Lawn". HuffPost. Retrieved April 5, 2018.[ permanent dead link ]

Bibliography