Sam Zelman

Sam Zelman longtime newsman with CBS and founding executive producer of CNN died May 29, 2015. He died at home of respiratory failure. He was 100. Zelman was born in Washington, DC October 6, 1914 to second generation immigrant parents from Kiev, Ukraine. The family moved in his teenage years to Los Angeles to help his severe asthma condition and to allow their sons to access free university education in California. He attended University of California, Berkeley during the depression. He started his career as a proofreader and night editor for the San Bernardino (CA) Sun Telegram. Then served in the Army Air Force (1942-46) in Hawaii and San Francisco where he wrote speeches for generals who were building support for the war effort. He then worked as copy editor at the San Francisco Examiner, the Los Angeles Herald Express and then as radio news writer for ABC, Los Angeles. In 1954 he became news director for KNXT the local CBS television affiliate station in Los Angeles. He would work for CBS for the next 26 years in various positions with CBS Network News, the CBS local stations division and as a producer with Sixty Minutes. He retired from CBS in 1975 but returned to local news as news director of WJLA ABC affiliate in Washington, DC 1975-79. He returned to CBS in New York but almost immediately was recruited by Reese Schonfeld, then working for Ted Turner to start a 24 hours news channel, CNN. He joined the founding team of CNN (1980-85) at the age of 65, as its executive producer saying no journalist could resist 24 hours of on-air news. Zelman received an Emmy for producing CBS reports on atomic testing in Nevada and the Edward R. Murrow Humanitarian Award for reportage for CNN on the plight of the elderly in a series called "The Aging of America" in which Green Valley was featured. Retiring for the third and last time in 1985, Zelman moved to Tucson which he loved and where he did free-lance writing contributing pieces to the Daily Star and the Desert Leaf and tutoring at the University of Arizona writing center. A long time devotee of public libraries, Zelman also served on the library board for Pima County. Sam was known for his humor and ability to keep looking forward despite his advanced years. Zelman is survived by his third wife, Sally Davenport; his brother, Julius Zelman and wife, Anita; three children, Carol Nieh of Portland, Oregon, Diane Zelman of Tucson and Barnaby Zelman of Cebu, Philippines; five grandchildren and one great- grandchild. There will be no services at Sams request. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you celebrate Sams life by contributions to your library, Friends of the library, or to public television or news sources you admire.