Ted Koppel – Author, Broadcast Journalist | Is He an Author of ‘Lights Out’?

Quick Facts

Full Name Edward James Martin Koppel
Nationality American-British
Date of Birth 1940/2/8
Birth Country United Kingdom
Birth Place Nelson, Lancashire
Horoscope Aquarius
Father Name Edwin Koppel
Mother Name Alice Koppel

Ted Koppel is an American broadcast journalist and author prominent during the 1980s and 1990s.

How much is the Net worth of Ted Koppel?

Ted Koppel is an American journalist, author who was born in England and has a net worth of $30 million.

Ted Koppel: One of America's most experienced and well-known journalists. - What's Up? Media
Ted Koppel Net worth 2023 Via What’s Up? Media

Early Years and Education

On February 8, 1940, Edward James Martin Koppel was born in Lancashire, England. His parents moved to the US when he was 13 years old, where he finished high school. After completing his M.A. at Stanford in Political Science and Mass Communications Research, he traveled to Syracuse University to earn his Bachelor of Science.

After graduating from college, he spent a short time working as a teacher before starting at WMCA Radio in New York City as a desk assistant and sporadic off-air reporter.

What is the Professional Career of Ted Koppel?

Then, in 1963, Koppel, then 23 years old, was hired by ABC News New York as a full-time general assignment correspondent. He began covering presidential elections in 1964, and in 1968 he was named ABCNEWS’ Miami bureau head.

He was assigned to lead the ABCNEWS desk in Hong Kong from 1969 to 1971, when he covered stories spanning from Australia to Vietnam. Also, he rose to the position of senior diplomatic reporter for the network after his 1971 return to the United States. Beginning in 1975, he also served as the ABC Saturday Night News host for two years.

Eventually, in 1980, ABC News debuted Nightline, a staple program for which Koppel was appointed anchor. He served as the managing editor of the first late-night network news program on television and was its main on-air reporter and interviewer. Koppel became regarded as the face of ABC News after taking over as host of Nightline.

He accumulated many significant journalism awards during that time. Koppel won nine Overseas Press Club Awards, ten duPont-Columbia Awards, six George Foster Peabody Awards, and 37 Emmy Awards. He also has two “Sigma Delta Chi Awards,” the highest honor for public service given by the Society of Professional Journalists, and two “George Polk Awards.”

Author of ‘Lights Out’

Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath, by Koppel, was published in 2015. In the book, he discussed the potential for terrorists or an adversarial foreign power to attack the American electrical grid with a hack or electromagnetic pulse.

Koppel used his ten years of experiences to compile the theories and circumstances. He has made an effort to explain to readers why the threat exists, how inadequate the government is, and what we can do right away to be ready for when the electricity goes out.

Is Ted Koppel still alive?

Koppel is still alive and well in 2022. But sadly, on May 31, 2010, Andrew Koppel, his only child, passed away. Andrew was a lawyer who finished his education at Georgetown Law.

He unintentionally passed away on the evening of May 30 from acute intoxication brought on by the concoction of alcohol, heroin, cocaine, diazepam, the generic form of Valium, and Levamisole, a drug used to cut other narcotics.

Who is the Wife of Ted Koppel?

The first official announcements concerning Andrew’s unintentional passing were made by Ted and his wife, Grace Dorney Koppel. Grace Anne Dorney, a former New York attorney who is now a health advocate, was married to Ted Koppel. At Stanford University, they crossed paths and got married on May 17, 1963.

Three daughters and one son were among their four offspring. In the 1970s, Dorney earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. Additionally, Koppel took a year break from her studies to stay at home and take care of her children. She finally earned her degree and worked in both civil and criminal litigation.

Ted Koppel and his wife have dedicated themselves to fighting COPD | CNN
Ted Koppel and his wife have dedicated themselves to fighting COPD Via CNN

Sadly, Dorney was given a diagnosis of chronic obstructive lung disease in 2001 and was informed that she only had three to a few years to live. However, Dorney and Koppel made the decision to battle the illness and underwent pulmonary rehabilitation, where they prescribed her environment and diet.

She is still alive today as a result, although she needs a lot of care. The pair also started a foundation for charity where they promote lung illness awareness and raise money for research. The Grace Anne Dorney Pulmonary Rehabilitation Centers is the name of their foundation.

Additionally, they were elected president of the National COPD Foundation in 2016.

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