Merri Dee
Encyclopedia
Merri Dee is an American philanthropist and former television journalist. From 1972 to 2008, Dee worked at Chicago television station and national cable superstation
WGN-TV
(channel 9), as an anchor/reporter and later as the director of community relations. Dee currently serves as president and member of the leadership council of the Illinois chapter of the American Association of Retrired Persons (AARP
).
. Dee enrolled at Midwestern Broadcasting (now Columbia College
) in Chicago to study broadcasting and journalism in the early 1960s, and landed her first hosting job in 1966 at radio station WBEE in Harvey, Illinois
. During the two years that followed, Dee quickly became a local celebrity in Chicago radio. In 1968, she began hosting an entertainment program that broadcasted on then-fledgling independent station WCIU (channel 26) on Saturday nights.
In 1971, Dee became the host of The Merri Dee Show, a local talk show on then-independent station WSNS (channel 44, now a Telemundo
owned-and-operated station). After a broadcast one evening, Dee and a guest on her show ended up being kidnapped at gunpoint, while leaving the WSNS-TV studios. The two were driven to a wooded area where they each were shot by their captor and left for dead. Dee managed to crawl to a highway where she was rescued and taken to a hospital, being treated for two gunshot wounds to the head. Doctors did not expect Dee to survive from her wounds and twice was given her last rites, including one by personal friend Reverend Jesse Jackson
.
After a year of recovering from her injuries from the incident, Dee returned to broadcasting in 1972, becoming an anchor for then-independent station WGN-TV's 10 p.m. newscast. After spending eleven years at WGN-TV in various on-air positions, Dee moved into an off-air position as the station's director of community development and manager of WGN-TV Children's Charities in 1984, where she remained until she retired from the station in the fall of 2008, helping raise $31 million in donations for the station's various charity initiatives during that tenure. Dee subsequently joined the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Women for the City of Chicago and became a member of the volunteer Executive Council of the Illinois chapter of AARP, before being appointed AARP State President a year later.
's "Evening of Stars" fundraiser for over two decades, and also hosted telethons benefitting Easter Seals
. Dee also developed "The Waiting Child", an on-air segment, broadcast on WGN-TV spotlighting children in the child placement system in need of adoptive homes. The initiative earned Dee several awards, including being honored with the Adoption Excellence Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2004.
Then-Illinois governor Jim Edgar
gave Dee and WGN-TV a commendation in 1998, for helping to increase the number of adoptions in the state by more than 50 percent. In 2000, she was honored with an honorary Doctorate of Humanities by Lewis University
; the following year, Dee won the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
' Silver Circle Award. The University of Illinois' Center on Women and Gender also honored Dee with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003; and in 2004, she was honored with a President's Award by the United Negro College Fund
.
Dee has also served as an executive board member for the Ronald McDonald House Charities
, Junior Achievement Worldwide
and the Associated Colleges of Illinois; board member for The National College Summit and member of the Illinois State Attorney's Council on Violence. In January 2011, Dee became one of six inductees into the National Association of Black Journalists
’ Hall of Fame.
Dee married her current husband, Nicolas Fulop in 1999. She has a daughter, named Toya, from a previous marriage.
Superstation
Superstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite...
WGN-TV
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
(channel 9), as an anchor/reporter and later as the director of community relations. Dee currently serves as president and member of the leadership council of the Illinois chapter of the American Association of Retrired Persons (AARP
AARP
AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is the United States-based non-governmental organization and interest group, founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus, PhD, a retired educator from California, and based in Washington, D.C. According to its mission statement, it is "a...
).
Career
A graduate of Englewood Technical Prep Academy in Chicago in the 1950s, Dee moved to New Orleans (where she lived during her childhood) to attend Xavier University, where she was a business administration major; she eventually dropped out to take a job to support her siblings and took a job as a salesperson with IBMIBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
. Dee enrolled at Midwestern Broadcasting (now Columbia College
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is one of the largest art colleges in the United States with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees within 120 undergraduate and graduate programs...
) in Chicago to study broadcasting and journalism in the early 1960s, and landed her first hosting job in 1966 at radio station WBEE in Harvey, Illinois
Harvey, Illinois
Harvey is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, near Chicago. The population was 30,000 at the 2000 census.Harvey is bordered by Dixmoor, Riverdale and Blue Island to the north, Posen and Markham to the west, South Holland, Phoenix, and Dolton to the east, and East Hazel Crest to the...
. During the two years that followed, Dee quickly became a local celebrity in Chicago radio. In 1968, she began hosting an entertainment program that broadcasted on then-fledgling independent station WCIU (channel 26) on Saturday nights.
In 1971, Dee became the host of The Merri Dee Show, a local talk show on then-independent station WSNS (channel 44, now a Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
owned-and-operated station). After a broadcast one evening, Dee and a guest on her show ended up being kidnapped at gunpoint, while leaving the WSNS-TV studios. The two were driven to a wooded area where they each were shot by their captor and left for dead. Dee managed to crawl to a highway where she was rescued and taken to a hospital, being treated for two gunshot wounds to the head. Doctors did not expect Dee to survive from her wounds and twice was given her last rites, including one by personal friend Reverend Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
.
After a year of recovering from her injuries from the incident, Dee returned to broadcasting in 1972, becoming an anchor for then-independent station WGN-TV's 10 p.m. newscast. After spending eleven years at WGN-TV in various on-air positions, Dee moved into an off-air position as the station's director of community development and manager of WGN-TV Children's Charities in 1984, where she remained until she retired from the station in the fall of 2008, helping raise $31 million in donations for the station's various charity initiatives during that tenure. Dee subsequently joined the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Women for the City of Chicago and became a member of the volunteer Executive Council of the Illinois chapter of AARP, before being appointed AARP State President a year later.
Charity work and accolades
In addition to her television and radio work, Dee has also served in various capacities of several charities and organizations. Dee helped draft the country's first ever Victims' Bill of Rights in 1992, that was passed by Illinois state legislature and served as a model for other states to pass their own victim's rights legislation. She founded the Chicago-based program Athletes for a Better Education. Dee served as the television host of the United Negro College FundUnited Negro College Fund
The United Negro College Fund is an American philanthropic organization that fundraises college tuition money for black students and general scholarship funds for 39 private historically black colleges and universities. The UNCF was incorporated on April 25, 1944 by Frederick D. Patterson , Mary...
's "Evening of Stars" fundraiser for over two decades, and also hosted telethons benefitting Easter Seals
Easter Seals
Easter Seals is an international charitable organization devoted to providing opportunities for children with physical disabilities. See*Easter Seals *Easter Seals *Easter Seals...
. Dee also developed "The Waiting Child", an on-air segment, broadcast on WGN-TV spotlighting children in the child placement system in need of adoptive homes. The initiative earned Dee several awards, including being honored with the Adoption Excellence Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2004.
Then-Illinois governor Jim Edgar
Jim Edgar
James Edgar is an American politician who was the 38th Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999 and Illinois Secretary of State from 1981 to 1991. As a moderate Republican in a largely blue-leaning state, Edgar was a popular and successful governor, leaving office with high approval ratings...
gave Dee and WGN-TV a commendation in 1998, for helping to increase the number of adoptions in the state by more than 50 percent. In 2000, she was honored with an honorary Doctorate of Humanities by Lewis University
Lewis University
Lewis University is a private Roman Catholic and Lasallian university located in Romeoville, Illinois, United States . The enrollment is currently around 6,800 students...
; the following year, Dee won the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was founded in 1946, just one month after network television was born. It is a nonprofit organization devoted to the advancement of telecommunications arts and sciences and to fostering creative leadership in the telecommunications industry...
' Silver Circle Award. The University of Illinois' Center on Women and Gender also honored Dee with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003; and in 2004, she was honored with a President's Award by the United Negro College Fund
United Negro College Fund
The United Negro College Fund is an American philanthropic organization that fundraises college tuition money for black students and general scholarship funds for 39 private historically black colleges and universities. The UNCF was incorporated on April 25, 1944 by Frederick D. Patterson , Mary...
.
Dee has also served as an executive board member for the Ronald McDonald House Charities
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Ronald McDonald House Charities is an independent 501c3 organization whose mission is to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children across the world...
, Junior Achievement Worldwide
Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement or JA or JA Worldwide is a non-profit youth organization that was founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and senator Winthrop M. Crane. JA focuses on educating kids in K-12 about the free enterprise system...
and the Associated Colleges of Illinois; board member for The National College Summit and member of the Illinois State Attorney's Council on Violence. In January 2011, Dee became one of six inductees into the National Association of Black Journalists
National Association of Black Journalists
The National Association of Black Journalists is an organization of African American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C...
’ Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Although Dee was born in Chicago, she was also raised in New Orleans. Her mother went into labor during a trip to Chicago with her husband as they went back and forth between Chicago and New Orleans due to work; she died when Dee was only two. After her father John Blouin (who was employed as a postal worker) remarried four years later, her stepmother abused her and later sent her to an orphanage, which Dee described in an interview with Contemporary Black Biography about growing up with her stepmother, "I was terrifically abused by her... She actually adopted me [after Blouin's death] and changed my name so that my family couldn't help me. It was horrible". Her stepmother changed her name, so family members would not contact her and refused to pay for her education after age 14.Dee married her current husband, Nicolas Fulop in 1999. She has a daughter, named Toya, from a previous marriage.