MANSFIELD — Veteran news anchor Leon Bibb will join Jay Fox for a Gravity Ohio Up Close & Personal presentation in the Kobacker Room at Dan Lew Exchange on On Tuesday, Oct. 3, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Bibb will share highlights of his 50+ year career and discuss the significance of being the first African-American local news anchor in local television history.
Leon Bibb has more than four decades experience as a television journalist in Cleveland. He is currently working as senior reporter and commentator for WKYC-TV3.
He began his Cleveland television career at that NBC station in 1979 where he worked for 16 years as a news anchor before moving to WEWS-TV5 where he served as a prime time anchor for 22 years.
In retirement, Bibb returned to WKYC where he now hosts a weekly public affairs program and provides astute commentary for the newscasts.
Before his career in Cleveland, Leon worked for television stations in Columbus and Toledo. Following his graduation from Bowling Green State University he was a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper.
His career has taken him to thousands of local and national stories including the Persian Gulf War when he was an imbedded journalist covering the Ohio-based U.S. Coast Guard unit deployed to the war.
Leon has interviewed Presidents Barack Obama and George H.W. Bush in the White House. He has also interviewed James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Nominated many times for Emmy awards, he has received the prized statuette 10 times. He is a military veteran and served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement against hostile forces.
Leon Bibb is an accomplished poet, speaker, and author who is currently working on a new book. He is also an actor has appeared in several local productions, one of which he also authored.
Bibb has served as a popular narrator with both the Cleveland Orchestra, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra where he has performed historic works
He and his wife, Marguerite, reside in suburban Cleveland.
The evening will feature a buffet dinner, cash bar, an audio visual presentation and facilitated discussion led by Jay Fox. For reservations call DLX at 419-522-7699. This is a ticketed event at $50 per person or tables of six for $285.