Through decades
of award-winning work,
the Windy City journalist
created a legacy
of good will,
sharp reporting, and
strong friendships
(Chicago — 19 June 2018) Journalist and Chicago Tonight host Elizabeth Brackett, who passed away Sunday afternoon, earned respect and affection throughout her career.
A graduate of New Trier High School and Indiana University, Brackett worked as a reporter for WLS-TV and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer before joining WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, where she started as a freelancer in 1991 and became a full-time a correspondent in 1994.
A World Champion Triathlete, Brackett also won a Peabody Award for her coverage of the 1988 U.S. Presidential election.
After sustaining a neck vertebra fracture while biking on the Chicago Lakefront Trail on June 13, the 76-year-old fell into a coma and passed away four days later.
Politicians, media personalities, and friends have been singing her praises ever since.
PROFILE OF BARACK OBAMA FROM “CHICAGO TONIGHT”
FOOTAGE PROVIDED BY MEDIA BURN ARCHIVE
“From her award-winning work as an esteemed Chicago journalist to her inspiring success as a world champion triathlete, Elizabeth Brackett brought strength, energy, passion and courage to everything she did.”
Robert Feder
“While Elizabeth rightfully received nearly every journalism award under the sun, anyone who knew her knew her passions stretched beyond the bounds of her career and that her greatest treasures were her beloved children. I will deeply miss our conversations about family, politics and triathlons.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel
“Elizabeth and I covered Mayor Harold Washington and Council Wars in 1983. We were both assigned to City Hall and it was the craziest of crazy times. We would later laugh that it was a kind of boot camp to prepare us for stories down the road like Rod Blagojevich.”
Carol Marin, reported by Rebecca Palmore in Chicago Tonight
“We are deeply saddened by the death of our friend and colleague, journalist Elizabeth Brackett.
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