About
Linda Ellerbee
Linda Ellerbee is an outspoken journalist, award-winning television
producer, best-selling author, a breast cancer survivor, a mom, a
grandmother, and one of the most sought-after speakers in America.
Ellerbee
began her career at CBS, and then moved to NBC News where, after years
covering national politics, she pioneered the late-night news program NBC
News Overnight, which she wrote and anchored. Overnight was cited by the duPont Columbia Awards as "the best
written and most intelligent news program ever." In 1986, Ellerbee
moved to ABC News to anchor and write Our
World, a weekly primetime historical series. Her work on Our World won her an Emmy.
In
1987, Ellerbee and Rolfe Tessem, her partner, quit network news to start
Lucky Duck Productions, first producing documentaries for PBS. In 1991,
Lucky Duck began producing Nick News
for Nickelodeon with Ellerbee writing and hosting. Fourteen years later,
more children watch Nick News than all other television news shows put
together. The show has earned honors traditionally associated with adult
programming. Known for the respectful and direct way it speaks to children
about the important issues of our time, Nick
News has collected three Peabody Awards (including one personal Peabody
given to Ellerbee for her coverage of the Clinton investigation), another
duPont Columbia Award and three Emmys. In
2004, Ellerbee was honored with an Emmy for her WE: Women’s Entertainment
network series, When I Was a Girl.
These
days, Ellerbee and her work can be seen all over the television universe.
Lucky Duck has and continues to produce primetime specials for ABC, CBS,
HBO, PBS, Lifetime, MTV, A&E, MSNBC SOAPnet, Trio and TV Land, among
others. In 2004, Ellerbee was honored with an Emmy for her series, When
I Was a Girl, which airs on WE: Women’s Entertainment network.
Ellerbee’s
first foray into books for kids, an eight-part fiction series entitled Get Real, published in 2000, won her raves among middle school
readers. Both of Ellerbee’s
previous adult books—And So It Goes,
a humorous look at television news, and Move
On, stories about being a working single mother, a child of the ‘60s
and a woman trying to find some balance in her life—have been national
bestsellers. Her newest book, Take Big
Bites: Adventures Around the World and Across the Table, was released in
May 2005.
As
a breast cancer survivor, Ellerbee travels thousands of miles each year
giving inspirational speeches to others. She is as direct with women as she
is with kids; they understand that she
understands their lives.
Although
Ellerbee has won all of television's highest honors, she says it’s her two
children who’ve brought her the richest rewards. Ellerbee spends her
personal time in New York City and Massachusetts with Rolfe Tessem, her
partner in work and life and their two dogs, Ollie and Daisy.
And
so it goes.
Linda's
Speaking Topics
| How
To Be Successful and Hang Onto Your Values |
| Kids,
Television, and the News |
| Surviving
Breast Cancer to Laugh Another Day |
| How
to Survive a Changing World and How to Change Your World |
| Adventures
in Journalism |
|
*Or combinations of
the above
|
Linda's Books:
And
So It Goes: Adventures in the Television World - copyright 1986;
about Ellerbee’s career.
Move On: Adventures in the Real World - copyright 1991; about
Ellerbee’s life.
Get Real - an 8-part fictional series for middle-school readers;
released in 2000-2001.
Take Big Bites: Adventures Around the World and Across the Table
- copyright 2005.
KEYNOTE FEE CATEGORY: Please inquire *
*All
fees quoted are plus travel expenses and subject to confirmation by
the individual speakers. Actual fees may vary depending on event
specifics such as total time commitment and/or distance traveled.
