Charles Austin (journalist)
Charles Austin (November 22, 1944 – April 10, 2018) was an American journalist who worked for WBZ-TV from 1968 to 2000. He was one of the first African-Americans to appear on local news in Boston.
Early life
Austin was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on November 22, 1944.[1][2] He was the youngest of four children born to Marion Austin.[2] His father Charles Bray Austin of Montgomery, Alabama, came home from WWII with injuries which left him with severe brain trauma; he subsequently died in 1969 in a Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts without ever meeting his son.[1]
Austin graduated from Ayer High School in 1962 and attended the New England Conservatory of Music before dropping out to sing full-time. He opened for Bill Cosby at The Bitter End and sang on the same card as Nina Simone. In 1965, while performing in St. Thomas he met his future wife, Linda, a Upstate New York native who was on vacation.[1] The two married in 1967.[2] Austin was drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War and was stationed in North Carolina.[1]
Journalism
In 1968, Austin was discharged and returned to Boston. He was hired by WBZ as a film processor. He moved to an on-camera position as a sports anchor, becoming one of the first African-Americans to appear on local news in Boston.[3] He left the sports desk to become a general assignment reporter.[4] Austin covered the Charles Stuart and John Salvi cases, the abduction and murder of Sarah Pryor, the liver transplant of infant Jamie Fiske, and the 1980s famine in Sudan.[1][2][4] He retired from WBZ on November 22, 2000.[3]
Personal life
Charles and Linda Austin were one of Boston's most public interracial couples. They had three daughters.[1] Their youngest has Down syndrome and Austin was inducted into the Massachusetts Special Olympics Hall of Fame for his work with that organization.[1][2]
On June 9, 1994, Austin suffered a mild stroke that slurred his speech and partially paralyzed him and a brain aneurysm that required surgery. He returned to work after therapy. On May 2, 1995, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He reported on his health issues on-air to raise awareness of the diseases.[1]
The Austins resided in Lexington, Massachusetts and spent their later years in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts.[1][2] Austin died on April 10, 2018 from kidney failure.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Thomas, Jack (September 7, 1995). "Charles Austin's battle of a lifetime: Facing death for the third time, the Ch. 4 reporter airs his own story to save the lives of other men". The Boston Globe.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Marquard, Bryan (April 11, 2018). "Charles Austin 1944-2018: His tools were trust and compassion, wrapped in elegance". The Boston Globe.
- 1 2 Murphy, Jeremiah (December 4, 2000). "WBZ's Austin retires". Mediaweek.
- 1 2 "Charles Austin, Legendary WBZ-TV Reporter, Dies At 73". Youtube. WBZ-TV. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2022.