Jane Pauley broke new ground at 25 as a Today show anchor and has interviewed a Who’s Who of politicians and celebrities, but for a trip to Houston, the legendary broadcaster had to quell some butterflies.
"I had to up my game a little bit to come to Houston. You women are just exceptional and gorgeous..”
“I had to up my game a little bit to come to Houston,” Pauley said. “You women are just exceptional and gorgeous. It says you take yourself and your community seriously.”
Chairmen Maryann Hoffer and Mary Ann McKeithan were behind the event that drew a beautiful crowd of more than 350 guests to River Oaks Country Club for the Baylor College of Medicine Huffington Center on Aging Women’s Health Summit and Luncheon.
Guests were still buzzing over the morning health sessions, especially a sleep-focused seminar by Dr. James Mass, and were noticeably excited when Pauley took the stage, her purse in tow. Before her interview with Warner Roberts officially started, Pauley explained the need for her purse.
“I brought my purse to the stage to show you how my life can change so rapidly,” Pauley said. “I have two weddings this year, and one in November, so I keep my phone close in case of a wedding drama phone call.”
She also pulled out her newly minted CBS News ID.
“After a 40 year association with NBC, I am now working for CBS. No generation before mine would have thought of starting a new job after 60,” Pauley said. “Success is the courage to say yes and try.”
Pauley’s interview was loaded with bits of personal and professional reveals. She didn’t have time for a manicure, so don’t look at her nails, how her job as an anchor at age 24 in Chicago “did not go well” and how ridiculous it was that as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, she and Deborah Norville were making front page news after Norville replaced her on The Today Show.
Before the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Pauley (she turns 64 on Halloween) she revealed Michael J. Fox as her all-time favorite guest.
“I had interviewed him quite a few times over the years and he asked if he could be my final Dateline interview. He said I had been there for so many important parts of his life and he wanted to be there for one of mine,” Pauley said.
Pauley was awarded the Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award for Living with Grace and Distinction. Honorary Chairpersons Terry Huffington and Ralph Dittman, MD, applauded the day’s efforts raising support for the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine. The event also honored Joella Mach, Penny Loyd, Reda Martin and Bain Pearson Pitts for their contributions to the community and Baylor.
Guests in the crowd included Janet Gurwitch, Dr. James Maas and Micki Fine, Jaleh Sallee, HCOA Director, Dr. Hui Zheng, Dominique Sachse, Jan Duncan, Diane Lokey Farb, Joelle Rogers, Tricia Dewhurst, Mehrnaz Gill, David McKeithan, Cora Sue and Harry Mach and Mary Gracely.
Donatella Benckenstein, left, and Mary Gracely.
