Paula Zahn
Zahn in April 2011
Born	Paula Ann Zahn (1956-02-24) February 24, 1956 (age 56) Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Occupation	Newscaster
Years active	1973–present
Spouse	Richard Cohen (1987–2007; filed for divorce)

Paula Ann Zahn (born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist, newscaster, former news anchor on ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. On July 24, 2007, she announced her resignation from CNN. The final broadcast of Paula Zahn Now aired August 2, 2007.^[1] In January 2009, Discovery Communications announced that Zahn had entered into a development deal for a newsmagazine series, On the Case with Paula Zahn. The series, which profiles real crime stories, premiered October 18, 2009 on the Investigation Discovery cable channel.^[2]

Early life and career[link]

Zahn was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to a schoolteacher/artist mother and an IBM sales executive father.^[3] She initially grew up in Canton, Ohio, with her parents and three siblings. The family relocated to Naperville, Illinois, as her father's job required them to move frequently. She once joked that "IBM" really stood for "I've been moved". She attended Washington Junior High School in Naperville and later graduated from Naperville Central High School in 1974. She also competed in several beauty pageants, making the semi-finals of the 1973 Miss Teenage America Pageant.^[4][5] Zahn continued her education at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri on a cello scholarship, and received firsthand knowledge of the news business by working as an intern at WBBM-TV in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Zahn then spent the next 10 years working at local stations around the country, including WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, KFMB-TV in San Diego, California, KPRC-TV in Houston, Texas, WHDH-TV (then WNEV) in Boston, Massachusetts, and KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, California.

National career[link]

ABC[link]

In 1987, Zahn accepted an offer to work at ABC News, initially anchoring The Health Show, a weekend program on health and medical issues. Within a few months she was co-anchoring World News This Morning, the network's early morning newscast, and anchoring news segments on Good Morning America.

CBS[link]

Due to her work on Good Morning America, in 1990 she was offered a job at CBS News, which she took, co-anchoring CBS This Morning with Harry Smith. After changes were made at the morning show in 1996, she went on to work as anchor of the Saturday edition of the CBS Evening News, as well as substituting for Dan Rather during the week, and contributing reports to 48 Hours, Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel, and CBS News Sunday Morning. While with CBS, she also helped cover the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France with Tim McCarver, and the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

Fox News Channel[link]

After nine years at CBS News, she moved to the world of cable news, joining Fox News Channel (FNC), where she anchored Fox Report, the network's nightly newscast. Months later, she helped launch her own prime time news program, The Edge with Paula Zahn. Two years later, FNC discovered she was in negotiations with CNN over a possible move there and fired her for what they alleged was a breach of her contract. A suit FNC filed against her agent was subsequently thrown out by a New York State Supreme Court judge.^[6]

CNN[link]

Zahn began her work at CNN on September 11, 2001, joining anchor Aaron Brown in the coverage of that day's terrorist attacks as her reaction to the events she witnessed. Although not scheduled to appear on a CNN program, which was still in development, she began a regular morning news shift the next day. By January she launched her CNN morning news program, American Morning with Paula Zahn.

Zahn in 2002

In 2003, during the Iraq War, Zahn moved back to prime time, hosting a two-hour program labeled Live from the Headlines which offered continuing coverage of the war and other events. Anderson Cooper took over the first of the two hours by early summer, and by September, her show, Paula Zahn Now, premiered.

On July 24, 2007, Zahn announced that August 2, 2007 would be her last day at the network.^[7] The announcement came less than a day after CNN hired Campbell Brown, the former co-host of Weekend Today. Initially, guest hosts essentially continued Zahn's program under the title Out in the Open.^[8] This was later replaced by election campaign coverage and ultimately Brown's program, Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull.

WNET[link]

Zahn is now one of two anchors of the new NYC-ARTS (formerly SundayArts) and WNET's THIRTEEN and WLIW in New York.

Plans[link]

According to Zahn's goodbye letter penned to CNN staff, she stated "I plan to take a break between jobs and catch my breath before I take on my next role."^[7] In a New York Times interview, which was conducted right after the announcement of her resignation broke, Zahn told Jacques Steinberg that "she had no idea what she would be doing next".^[9]

On November 9, 2008, Zahn became the new host of "SundayArts" on Bloomberg TV, PBS, WLIW and WNET.

On January 9, 2009, Discovery Communications announced that Zahn along with producing partners Scott Weinberger and Scott Sternberg entered into a development deal to produce a news magazine series to air later in the year.

Personal life[link]

Zahn has three children with Richard Cohen, a New York City real estate developer. In April 2007, she announced she was divorcing Cohen after 20 years of marriage.^[10]

The couple was in the news in 2004 when the nest of the well-publicized red-tailed hawk Pale Male was removed from their Manhattan co-op building. Cohen, president of the co-op board, supported the removal; in 2001 Zahn had spoken approvingly of the hawk and its habit of feeding on rats and pigeons.^[11]

An accomplished cellist, Zahn played at Carnegie Hall in May 1992 with the New York Pops orchestra.^[12] She is also an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation,^[13] and has been an active advocate for issues of cancer awareness in general, and breast cancer in particular.

In May 2003, Zahn received an honorary degree from Dowling College of Oakdale, New York.^[14]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Paula Zahn at the Internet Movie Database
• Paula Zahn collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• CNN interview December 23, 2005 with Shane Sellers
• Video of Zahn as co-host of public media's NYC-ARTS

Links to related articles Preceded by The Situation Room CNN Weekday Lineup 8:00PM–9:00PM Succeeded by Larry King Live Preceded by Jim McKay American television prime time anchor, Winter Olympic Games 1992 (with Tim McCarver) Succeeded by Greg Gumbel v t e CNN programming Weekday Early Start Starting Point CNN Newsroom The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer John King, USA Erin Burnett OutFront Anderson Cooper 360° Piers Morgan Tonight Weekend CNN Newsroom Sanjay Gupta MD Your Bottom Line Your Money CNN Special Investigations Unit CNN Sunday Morning State of the Union with Candy Crowley Fareed Zakaria GPS Reliable Sources The Next List Special CNN Presents CNN Heroes Former Amanpour (was also daily on CNNI) American Morning Business Morning Campbell Brown Capital Gang CNN Daybreak CNN Live Today CNN NewsStand Connie Chung Tonight Crossfire D. L. Hughley Breaks the News Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields In the Arena Inside Politics Larry King Live NewsNight with Aaron Brown Paula Zahn Now The Point People in the News Sports Tonight Style with Elsa Klensch TalkBack Live Wolf Blitzer Reports Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer Your World Today (shown on CNNI, now cancelled) This Week in Politics Lou Dobbs This Week Lou Dobbs Tonight CNN Tonight Rick's List Related articles History of CNN (1980–2003) Category · Television portal / Journalism portal · CNN.com v t e Co-hosts of American Morning Current Velshi Romans Costello Former Cafferty Chetry Collins Cooper Costello Hemmer Kagan Myers M. O'Brien S. O'Brien Ogunnaike Roberts Serwer Zahn Velshi Romans Costello v t e 60 Minutes correspondents Current Steve Kroft Lesley Stahl Bob Simon Morley Safer Byron Pitts Lara Logan Anderson Cooper Scott Pelley Former Christiane Amanpour Ed Bradley Katie Couric Dan Rather Andy Rooney Harry Reasoner Charlie Rose Diane Sawyer Meredith Vieira Mike Wallace v t e Olympics on CBS Related programs Olympics on TNT Related articles Olympics on United States television Olympics on television Commentators Walter Cronkite Tim McCarver Paula Zahn Greg Gumbel Jim Nantz Pat O'Brien Mark McEwen Jane Robelot Michele Tafoya Al Trautwig Chris Schenkel Andrea Mead Lawrence Bud Palmer Dick Button Mike Emrick John Davidson Mike Eruzione Art Devlin Dick Stockton Eric Heiden Tim Ryan Harry Reasoner Christin Cooper Mary Carillo Cindy Nelson Summer Olympics 1960 Winter Olympics 1960 1992 1994 1998 Music Tamara Kline

Carlton D'Metrius Pearson, DD (born March 19, 1953 in San Diego, California) is an American minister.^[1] At one time, he was the pastor of the Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center, later named it Higher Dimensions Family Church which was one of the largest churches in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During the 1990s, it grew to an average attendance of over 5,000. Due to his stated belief in universal reconciliation, Pearson rapidly began to lose his influence in ministry with the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops^[2] and was eventually declared a heretic by his peers in 2004.

Pearson was the Senior Minister of Christ Universal Temple, a large New Thought congregation in Chicago, Illinois.^[3]

Early career[link]

Pearson attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, where he was mentored by Oral Roberts. He was licensed and ordained in the Church of God in Christ.^[4] Pearson formed his own church, the Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center, which became one of the largest churches in Tulsa. He was one of only two African American ministers to appear on National television, reaching hundreds of thousands to millions of people, weekly and has been credited as being one of the first black ministers to hold major conferences in arenas & stadiums within the African American fundamentalist movement. During the 1990s Pearson's church grew to an average attendance of over 6,000, and in 1997 Pearson was ordained as a bishop. In 2000, Pearson campaigned for George W. Bush, and later he was invited to the White House. Pearson had one of the most watched TV programs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Pearson was also the host of the AZUSA Conference in Tulsa. Pearson was also a travelling evangelist, holding two-day revivals across the continent. Pearson also gave many up and coming ministers and singers credibility and a global audience, including T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Donnie McClurkin and many others. Pearson has also met and counseled with former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

The Gospel of Inclusion[link]

After watching a television program about the wretched conditions of people suffering and dying from the genocide in Rwanda, and considering the teachings of his church that non-Christians were going to Hell, Pearson believed he had received an epiphany from God. He stated publicly that he doubted the existence of Hell as a place of eternal torment. He said that hell is created on earth by human depravity and behavior.^[6]

In February 2002, Pearson lost a primary election for the office of mayor of Tulsa.^[7] By then Pearson had begun to call his doctrine—a variation on universal reconciliation—the Gospel of Inclusion and many in his congregation began to leave.

In March 2004, after hearing Pearson's argument for inclusion, the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops concluded that such teaching was heresy.^[1] Declared a heretic by his peers, Pearson rapidly began to lose his influence.^[8] Membership at the Higher Dimensions Family Church fell below 1,000, and the church lost its building to foreclosure in January 2006. The church members began meeting in the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church as the New Dimensions Worship Center.^[9]

The New Dimensions Worship Center[link]

In November 2006, Pearson was accepted as a United Church of Christ minister.

In June 2008, the New Dimensions Worship Center moved its meetings to the All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa. On September 7, 2008, Pearson held his final service for the New Dimensions Worship Center, and it was absorbed into the All Souls Unitarian Church.^[10][11]

The Christ Universal Temple (Chicago)[link]

In May 2009, Pearson was named the interim minister of the Christ Universal Temple, a large New Thought congregation in Chicago, Illinois.^[12] On January 3, 2011, it was reported that he had left this position.^[13]

Media coverage of Pearson[link]

• Pearson's life story was the subject of "Heretics," an episode of the Chicago Public Radio program This American Life that was first broadcast on December 16, 2005,.^[14]
• Pearson's life story was telecast on the Dateline NBC program, To Hell and Back, first shown on August 13, 2006.^[15]
• Pearson was the subject of a Cable News Network story on June 24, 2007, that covered the changes in his teachings (including acceptance of LGBT people into his church) and the backlash against it.^[16]
• In March 2009, Pearson appeared on Nightline "Face Off" with Deepak Chopra, Mark Driscoll, and Annie Lobert to address the question "Does Satan Exist?"^[17]
• In July 2010 it was announced that director Marc Forster will direct a feature film about Pearson's life. The script will be written by screenwriter Marcus Hinchey and based on the This American Life 's "Heretics" episode.^[18]
• In September 2010, Pearson again appeared on CNN with anchor Kyra Phillips, discussing the widely-publicized gay rumors regarding Bishop Eddie Long. Pearson was again criticized for his inclusive thinking by many Christian fundamentalists, for stating "Until the Church—the Church, black or otherwise—confronts—not combats—confronts this issue of human sexuality and homosexuality, which is not going away. Homosexuals and homosexuality is not going away. If every gay person in our church just left or those who have an orientation or preference or an inclination, or a fantasy, if everyone left, we wouldn't have -- we wouldn't have a church."
• In December 2010, Academy Award winner Mo'Nique personally invited Pearson to appear on her BET-TV Late night talk show. Mo'Nique publicly suggested that she followed & supported Pearson and would "come to his church in Atlanta, if he had one and would have her."

Pearson's musical career & personal life[link]

Pearson is also a gospel vocalist who has won two Stellar Awards, and he was nominated for a Dove Award.^[19]

In September 1993 Pearson was married at age 40 to the former Gina Marie Gauthier (born December 13, 1961 in Lake Charles, LA). She is a life coach by profession. They have two children; a son, Julian D'Metrius Pearson, born on July 9, 1994 in Tulsa, OK, and a daughter, Majestè Amour Pearson born, October 29, 1996 (which was also her Grandfather Adam Pearson's 70th Birthday) in Tulsa, OK.

Books[link]

• The Gospel of Inclusion: Reaching Beyond Religious Fundamentalism to the True Love of God, 2007. Azusa Press/ Council Oak Books, ISBN 0-9791689-0-2.^[20]
• God Is Not a Christian, Nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu... 2010 Atria Books/ Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 1-4165-8443-9.^[21]

References[link]

External links[link]

• New Dimensions Worship Center, Pearson's former church
• Pearson's life story, as told on This American Life, with numerous quotes from Pearson
• Christ Universal Temple
• Carlton Pearson interview discussing his departure from Christ Universal Temple, Chicago Tonight, WTTW, January 6, 2011.

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Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961 in Seattle, Washington) ^[1] is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition. As a teenager he won national string instrument championships for his virtuoso playing of the guitar and mandolin as well as on the fiddle. His mentors include Texas old-time fiddler Benny Thomasson^[2] who taught O'Connor to fiddle as a teenager, French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli^[3] whom O'Connor toured as a teenager and guitarist Chet Atkins.^[4]

Early life[link]

At an early age Mark O'Connor was considered a child prodigy winning national titles on the fiddle, guitar and mandolin as a teenager.^[5] In 1975 at age thirteen, O'Connor won the prestigious Grand Masters Fiddle Championships^[6] in Nashville against amateur and professional competitors of all ages. Later that year in 1975, after turning to age 14, he accomplished the same feat on acoustic guitar at the National Flatpick Guitar Championships in Winfield, KS.^[7] At age 19, he won the Buck White International Mandolin Championship in Kerrville, TX.^[8] He is a four-time grand champion at the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, Idaho^[9] —1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984.^[10]

Musical career[link]

He has recorded solo albums for Rounder, Warner Bros. Records, Sony, and his own CD line OMAC Records.

O'Connor has won two Grammy awards; one for his New Nashville Cats album and another for his Appalachian Journey album he did with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer.^[11] He was named Musician of the Year by the Country Music Association six years in a row (from 1991 to 1996).^[12] His collaborative single Restless (with Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Steve Wariner) won the 1991 CMA Vocal Event of the Year award.^[13]

O'Connor has crossed musical genres, composing, arranging, and recording folk, classical and jazz music. His Fiddle Concerto has received over 200 performances making it one of the most performed concertos written in the last 40 years.^[14] He has composed eight concertos, string quartets, string trios, choral works, solo unaccompanied works and a new Symphony (See Compositions) . He has worked and recorded with a wide variety of artists, such as Chet Atkins, James Taylor, Michelle Shocked, Alison Krauss, David Grisman, Tony Rice, Bela Fleck, Renée Fleming, Pinchas Zukerman, Stéphane Grappelli, Patty Loveless, The Dixie Dregs, John Hartford and Wynton Marsalis. Some of his more recent albums are or contain tributes to his musical mentors and inspirations, including Niccolò Paganini, Benny Thomasson, and Grappelli.

He has contributed music to the PBS Series Liberty! The American Revolution (the companion album is Liberty!).^[15] He recorded his "Fanfare For The Volunteer" with the London Philharmonic in 1999 for Sony Classical,^[16] and one of his most critically acclaimed orchestral pieces Americans Seasons for Sony Classical^[17] 2 as well. O'Connor recorded a 2½ hour double CD of his music with the mandolinist Chris Thile entitled Thirty-Year Retrospective. It celebrates his thirty years as a recording artist on his own OMAC label. He also provided the soundtrack to a 30-minute animated film on the story of Johnny Appleseed (and released the music on his 1992 album Johnny Appleseed), narrated by Garrison Keillor, He contributed four tracks to a 1993 album on the theme of The Night Before Christmas narrated by Meryl Streep that was recently reissued for Starbucks. One of his most popular compositions, Appalachia Waltz (appearing on the album of the same title), has been adopted by Yo-Yo Ma as part of his live performance repertoire, and used frequently as music for weddings including two of Vice President Al Gore's daughters. O'Connor hosts an annual fiddle camp (the Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp) in Tennessee and an annual Strings Conference in San Diego, California. O'Connor is living in New York City working on new music. One of his recent efforts is his piano trio entitled Poets and Prophets which is inspired by his boyhood hero Johnny Cash. Currently O'Connor and Rosanne Cash have teamed up for concert dates premiering their collaboration in New York at Merkin Hall, January 2007. He plays on Ken Burns' The War.

On April 28, 2009, O'Connor teamed with prominent chamber musicians Kavafian, Neubauer and Haimovitz to present his second and third string quartets, amalgamating bluegrass with classical styles, at Merkin Concert Hall in New York. A recording by the same artists is to be released on O'Connor's OMAC label during May.

O'Connor Method[link]