NOW. GOOD MORNING. YOU BECAME HER COANCHOR AFTER HER LONG TV RELATIONSHIP WITH PETER. HOW WAS SHE WHEN YOU STEPPED INTO THAT ROLE? >> GOOD MORNING. THANK YOU AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU. PETER COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE ENCOURAGING. MARY WAS VERY MUCH THE SAME WAY. SHE WELCOMED ME. SHE TAUGHT ME. PETER TOLD ME, TAKE YOUR TIME. IT’S GOING TO BE A WHILE UNTIL YOU SETTLE INTO TH.IS I MENTIONED THIS ONCE BEFORE. WHEN WATCHING THE SHOW ON SET, SHE WAS OFTEN VERY CRITICAL OF WHENEVER SHE SAW SOMETHING SHE DIDN’T THINK WAS RIGHT. INITIALLY, I THOUGHT IT LOOKED GREAT. I EAT. DON’T E SETHAT. SHE TAUGHT ME TO BRING A CRITICAL EYE TO THE PROGRAM AND KNOW THAT GOOD WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH. IT HAD TO BE GREAT. IT HAD TO BE EXCEPTIONAL. SHE FOUGHT FOR EXCEPTIONALISM IN THE PROGRAM. SHE TAUGHT ME THAT WATCHING THE SHOW. LAUDING IT ENWH SHE THOUGHT WE HIT THE MARK AND WHEN WE COULD DO SOMETHING BETTER. NNJEIF:ER COULD YOU SHARE ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES? >> THERE WERE SO MANY. HER HUSBAND, ROU RECENTLY TIRED, WOULD GO OUT TO DINNER TOGETHER. ONE OF THE BEST INTHGS FOR ME, MY OFFICE WAS IN BETWEEN THEIRS. I HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT TO THEIR RELATIONSHIP. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL THING TO SEE. UP UNTIL THE VERY END, THEY HAD A GREAT RELATIONSHIP. AS THE PERSON IN BETWEEN THEM IN THE OFFICE, I SERVED AS MARRIAGE COUNSERLO AND SECRETARY. I CHERISH THOSE MOMESNT WHEN THEY WERE LAUGHING WITH EACH OTHER. THEY DEALT WITH EVYTHINGER IN AN ELEGANT AND HUMOROUS WAY. I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT PART. JENNIF:ER YOU HAD MENTIONED THIS IN THE STORY. ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT HER GROWING UP WAS HER VOICE. IT WAS LIKE YOUR FAVORITE SHE COVERED SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF STORIES. WAS THERE ANYWHEER YOU SAW HER SHINE? >> YOU ARE RIGHT. SHE HAD A LYRICAL VOICE THAT CAPTURED YOU. SHE WAS A TEACHER FIRST. I THINK SHE NER VELOST THAT SENSE OF WANTING TO IMPART INFORMATION. THAT WAS A CENTRAL PART OF WHO SHE WAS. SHE WANTED TO PASS ON INFORMATION. SHE TRAVELED THE WORLD. EVERYWHERE SHE WENT, THOSE TRAITS SERVED HER WELL. SHE WAS ENDEARING IT TO EVERYBODY. SHE WAS INTERESTED IN EVERYBODY. WHETHER SHE WAS ON AN ADVENTURE OR I REMEMBER HER JUMPING OFF A CLIFF ON A HANG GLIDER. SHE WAS A DAREDEVIL. THEERAS NO CHALLENGE SHE WOULDN’T ACCEPT. I THINK I TOOK A LOT OF THAT WITH ME. YOU HAVE TO BE SORT OF ADVENTUROUS AND WILLING TO ENGAGE IN THE WORLD AROUND Y.OU MARY HAD ALL OF THAT IN SPADES. SHE JUST WAS THE PERFECT FIT. SHEAS W THE TOTAL PACKAGE FOR CHRONICLE. WE WILL MISS HER .CAROLI:NE SHE HAD AN AMAZING CAREER. ANTHONY, THANK YOU
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Mary Richardson, legendary Boston broadcaster and longtime Chronicle co-anchor on WCVB Channel 5, dies at 76
Mary Richardson, legendary Boston broadcaster and former longtime co-anchor of Chronicle on WCVB Channel 5, passed away last night after a brave seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She was 76.Richardson is survived by her husband Stan Leven who was a longtime senior producer for Chronicle. Leven said, “Mary never let her Alzheimer’s define her or slow her down. She was as real as real could be, a force in motion and always gracious, stopping to talk to her fans. Our family came to accept that we share Mary, you can’t contain Mary.”Richardson is also survived by her three children Chris, Jessie, and Matt as well as two grandchildren.A beloved member of the Channel 5 family for more than 30 years, Richardson joined WCVB in 1980 as a news reporter and anchor, as well as host of the weekly public affairs program “Five on Five.” In 1984, she joined Peter Mehegan as co-anchor of the station’s acclaimed Chronicle, now the nation’s longest-running locally-produced nightly newsmagazine in the country. From 2005 until 2010, Richardson co-anchored Chronicle with Anthony Everett.Paul LaCamera, former WCVB Channel 5 President and General Manager, and friend of Richardson, said, “As Chronicle celebrates its 40th anniversary, Mary is remembered as part of the program for most of those 40 years. She brought a joy, a pride and a celebration of where we live here in New England. Mary had it all, a fine reporter, writer, producer, smart, attractive, affable and possessed that classic indomitable Irish spirit and wit. A dear colleague and friend to all of us.”“We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Mary who was one of Channel 5’s most cherished and highly-regarded journalists whose standard of excellence influences Chronicle to this day,” said Kyle Grimes, WCVB Channel 5 President and General Manager. “We send our deepest sympathy to Mary’s family, and we will always be grateful to her for the countless contributions she made to the station, the industry, and the community.” Richardson’s work on Chronicle took her to locations where she told stories from around the corner and around the world, including “The Main Streets and Back Roads of New England,” her ancestral Ireland, the Great Wall of China, Castro’s Cuba, Belize, Greece, and more.For a decade, Richardson co-hosted the annual Holiday at Pops! concert from Boston’s Symphony Hall as well as the popular Pops Goes the Fourth! celebration from the Hatch Shell on the banks of the Charles River. The concerts had been broadcast locally on WCVB Channel 5 and enjoyed by millions nationwide on the A&E Network.The former WNAC-TV brought Richardson to New England in 1978 when she became the first woman in Boston to co-anchor an 11PM newscast. She quickly established herself as one of Boston’s most popular local television journalists. Richardson began her broadcasting career in 1973 at KCRA-TV in Sacramento, CA. By 1975, she was that station’s co-anchor for the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.In 2011, Richardson was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame for her decades of accomplishment in the media industry. In 2010, Richardson received the first-ever Tim Russert Award from Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. Other honors bestowed on Richardson include: a 2010 Pinnacle Award from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce for Lifetime Achievement; the 2009 National Academy of Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Award recognizing Richardson’s significant contributions to her community, the television industry and to individuals training for careers in the field of television; a 2009 Honorary Doctorate from Regis College; and the Exceptional Woman Award in 2008.With Richardson as co-anchor, Chronicle received two prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, several national Gabriel Awards, and numerous regional Emmy Awards. As co-host of Pops Goes the Fourth!, she shared a national Primetime Emmy Award nomination.Over the years, Richardson generously donated her time to countless Massachusetts charities, such as Horizons for Homeless Children in Boston, where she volunteered reading to homeless children. Richardson also contributed her talents to Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, the Catholic Schools Foundation Inner-City Scholarship Fund, as well as the New England Province of Jesuits. Richardson was raised and educated in California where she received her undergraduate degree from Santa Clara University and graduate degrees at the University of California, Davis and at California State University. Classic Chronicle: Mary Richardson visits Ireland's River Shannon
NEEDHAM, Mass. —
Mary Richardson, legendary Boston broadcaster and former longtime co-anchor of Chronicle on WCVB Channel 5, passed away last night after a brave seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She was 76.
Richardson is survived by her husband Stan Leven who was a longtime senior producer for Chronicle. Leven said, “Mary never let her Alzheimer’s define her or slow her down. She was as real as real could be, a force in motion and always gracious, stopping to talk to her fans. Our family came to accept that we share Mary, you can’t contain Mary.”
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Richardson is also survived by her three children Chris, Jessie, and Matt as well as two grandchildren.
A beloved member of the Channel 5 family for more than 30 years, Richardson joined WCVB in 1980 as a news reporter and anchor, as well as host of the weekly public affairs program “Five on Five.” In 1984, she joined Peter Mehegan as co-anchor of the station’s acclaimed Chronicle, now the nation’s longest-running locally-produced nightly newsmagazine in the country. From 2005 until 2010, Richardson co-anchored Chronicle with Anthony Everett.
Paul LaCamera, former WCVB Channel 5 President and General Manager, and friend of Richardson, said, “As Chronicle celebrates its 40th anniversary, Mary is remembered as part of the program for most of those 40 years. She brought a joy, a pride and a celebration of where we live here in New England. Mary had it all, a fine reporter, writer, producer, smart, attractive, affable and possessed that classic indomitable Irish spirit and wit. A dear colleague and friend to all of us.”
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“We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Mary who was one of Channel 5’s most cherished and highly-regarded journalists whose standard of excellence influences Chronicle to this day,” said Kyle Grimes, WCVB Channel 5 President and General Manager. “We send our deepest sympathy to Mary’s family, and we will always be grateful to her for the countless contributions she made to the station, the industry, and the community.”
Richardson’s work on Chronicle took her to locations where she told stories from around the corner and around the world, including “The Main Streets and Back Roads of New England,” her ancestral Ireland, the Great Wall of China, Castro’s Cuba, Belize, Greece, and more.
Hearst Owned
For a decade, Richardson co-hosted the annual Holiday at Pops! concert from Boston’s Symphony Hall as well as the popular Pops Goes the Fourth! celebration from the Hatch Shell on the banks of the Charles River. The concerts had been broadcast locally on WCVB Channel 5 and enjoyed by millions nationwide on the A&E Network.
The former WNAC-TV brought Richardson to New England in 1978 when she became the first woman in Boston to co-anchor an 11PM newscast. She quickly established herself as one of Boston’s most popular local television journalists. Richardson began her broadcasting career in 1973 at KCRA-TV in Sacramento, CA. By 1975, she was that station’s co-anchor for the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.
In 2011, Richardson was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame for her decades of accomplishment in the media industry. In 2010, Richardson received the first-ever Tim Russert Award from Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. Other honors bestowed on Richardson include: a 2010 Pinnacle Award from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce for Lifetime Achievement; the 2009 National Academy of Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Award recognizing Richardson’s significant contributions to her community, the television industry and to individuals training for careers in the field of television; a 2009 Honorary Doctorate from Regis College; and the Exceptional Woman Award in 2008.
Hearst Owned
With Richardson as co-anchor, Chronicle received two prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, several national Gabriel Awards, and numerous regional Emmy Awards. As co-host of Pops Goes the Fourth!, she shared a national Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
Over the years, Richardson generously donated her time to countless Massachusetts charities, such as Horizons for Homeless Children in Boston, where she volunteered reading to homeless children. Richardson also contributed her talents to Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, the Catholic Schools Foundation Inner-City Scholarship Fund, as well as the New England Province of Jesuits.
Richardson was raised and educated in California where she received her undergraduate degree from Santa Clara University and graduate degrees at the University of California, Davis and at California State University.
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Sad at the passing of friend and former @Chronicle5 colleague, #maryrichardson. A passionate, and dedicated journalist, she was also a warm and wonderfully mothering influence even beyond her own beloved family. She meant so much to so many, and will be so missed. @WCVB
— Ted Reinstein (@tedreinstein) December 31, 2021
Classic Chronicle: Mary Richardson visits Ireland's River Shannon
