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Catching Up With Longtime St. Louis Television Personality Karen Foss

 Longtime television personality Karen Foss talked about her role in news coverage and her take on the industry today on Tuesday's "St. Louis on the Air."
Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
Longtime television personality Karen Foss talked about her role in news coverage and her take on the industry today on Tuesday's "St. Louis on the Air."
 Longtime television personality Karen Foss talked about her role in news coverage and her take on the industry today on Tuesday's "St. Louis on the Air."
Credit Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
Longtime television personality Karen Foss talked about her role in news coverage and her take on the industry today on Tuesday's "St. Louis on the Air."

For 27 years, Karen Foss was a familiar face for many people in the St. Louis region. She worked as a TV anchorwoman for KSDK (Channel 5) from 1979 until her retirement in 2006.

Foss has since moved away from the city where she played such a significant role in news coverage. But she returned to town this week and joined Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air for a conversation with host Don Marsh.

Among her favorite experiences working for KSDK was the time she accompanied her daughter to China to adopt her granddaughter Caroline. Another memorable moment during her journalism career, she said, was witnessing the Great Flood of 1993.

“It impacted me personally, as well as professionally,” Foss recalled. “It was a terrible tragedy for those affected … but the great work that our newsroom turned out and our reporters – I felt – really rose to the occasion. When I [would] go home, I would continue to watch our coverage.”

Listen to the full discussion:

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Foss will be making another trip to St. Louis later this spring as the honorary chair and emcee of Craft Alliance’s Makers Ball set for May 3.

St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Alex HeuerEvie HemphillLara Hamdan and Jon Lewis give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org.

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Evie Hemphill joined the St. Louis on the Air team in February 2018. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature in 2005, she started her career as a reporter for the Westminster Window in Colorado. Several years later she went on to pursue graduate work in creative writing at the University of Wyoming and moved to St. Louis upon earning an MFA in the spring of 2010. She worked as writer and editor for Washington University Libraries until 2014 and then spent several more years in public relations for the University of Missouri–St. Louis before making the shift to St. Louis Public Radio.