{"id":12790,"date":"2016-11-21T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=12790"},"modified":"2016-11-21T06:00:23","modified_gmt":"2016-11-21T12:00:23","slug":"outpouring-gratitude-humbling-linda-yu-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2016\/11\/21\/outpouring-gratitude-humbling-linda-yu-retires\/","title":{"rendered":"Outpouring of gratitude \u2018very humbling\u2019 as Linda Yu retires"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Linda<\/a>

<\/a> Linda Yu<\/p><\/div>\n

For 37 years she has been the epitome of grace, poise and professionalism on Chicago television news. Now the incomparable Linda Yu is retiring.<\/a><\/p>\n

On Wednesday Yu, 69, will anchor her final 4 p.m. newscast for WLS-Channel 7. <\/a>She\u2019s been a mainstay of the top-rated ABC-owned station since 1984, following a five-year run at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5.<\/a><\/p>\n

A native of Xian, China, and a graduate of the University of Southern California, Yu came to Chicago in 1979 as a 32-year-old trailblazer \u2014 the first Asian American journalist on the air here.<\/p>\n

Saying Yu \u201copened doors for others,\u201d Jennifer Graves, news director of ABC 7, added: \u201cShe set the bar high with her skillful anchoring and unflappable breaking news coverage. Linda has a special ability to connect with viewers on screen and off, one of the many reasons she has so many fans in this city.\u201d<\/p>\n

What would Yu have done if she hadn\u2019t spent all these years in broadcast journalism?<\/p>\n

\u201cWay back when I was starting college and thinking of a career, women didn\u2019t think there were that many fields open to us,\u201d she told me the other day. \u201cI knew I could write, and luckily, my mother asked me to take a journalism class. In China, she never expected to have a career, but she had a dream of becoming a reporter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took a beginning journalism class and fell in love. I really expected to become a newspaper reporter, but fate opened a door for me to become a TV journalist.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut another career? In recent years, because I love pandas, my producers run panda stories when we get them. Through those, I\u2019ve learned that some zoos in the U.S. and the panda research centers in China hire people to cuddle pandas. Now that<\/em> would be a great new career!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Judy<\/a>

Judy Hsu and Linda Yu<\/p><\/div>\n

As successful as she\u2019s been on the air, Yu may have had even greater influence as a role model and mentor to many others in the profession \u2014 including Judy Hsu, the ABC 7 news anchor who succeeds her at 4 p.m. alongside Rob Elgas, starting Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have had an impact on so many young, aspiring journalists \u2014 Asian American or non-Asian American,\u201d Hsu told Yu in a heartfelt tribute <\/a>Sunday on a special edition of ABC 7\u2019s \u201cNewsviews.\u201d \u201cWe found our voice because we watched you find yours on television.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does Yu reflect on her contribution to the lives of others?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always believed in helping \u2014 whether it\u2019s students who want advice and guidance, or something I can do to open a door for someone,\u201d she said. \u201cAmong Asians, I did learn that my presence on a family\u2019s TV set opened some Asian parents to journalism as a profession for their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cA favorite story: Years ago in California, my brother was helping a friend of his at his book store. As my brother took the credit card of a young customer, he saw that her name was \u2018Linda Yu Chin.\u2019 Surprised, he asked why her name was Linda Yu.\u00a0She said: \u2018My parents watched Linda Yu on TV in San Francisco and named me after her!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it hasn\u2019t really been until my retirement was announced that I got a real sense that I have helped others. So many people have reached out to tell me I helped them or inspired them. It has been very humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Yu went public<\/a> with plans to embark on \u201cnew adventures\u201d (including writing her next book and seeing her children more often in California), the outpouring of love and affection from viewers has been nothing short of tremendous.<\/p>\n

What surprised her most about the reaction? \u201cThe number of people who have walked up to me \u2014 with tears in their eyes \u2014 saying: \u2018You can\u2019t retire!\u2019 \u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For 37 years she has been the epitome of grace, poise and professionalism on Chicago television news. Now the incomparable Linda Yu is retiring. On Wednesday Yu, 69, will anchor her final 4 p.m. newscast for WLS-Channel 7. She\u2019s been a mainstay of the top-rated ABC-owned station since 1984, following a five-year run at NBC-owned... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12790"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12790"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12798,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12790\/revisions\/12798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}