Chris Borgen, CBS 2 News, NY
ApplCinamn
Borgen, who retired from Channel 2 news about 7 or 8 years ago, has died of
pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 74.
AC
Hyfler/Rosner
"ApplCinamn" <applc...@aol.comnospam> wrote in message
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AP Obit
Chris Borgen, a longtime New York City television news correspondent who
sometimes found himself in the middle of the stories he was covering, has
died. He was 76.
Borgen died Friday in Ridgewood, where he had lived for many years, but the
cause of death was not disclosed. A former city police officer, he won 19
citations for bravery during his eight years of service before he joined
WCBS, where he earned more than 130 awards for his work as a correspondent.
Borgen used his familiarity with the police and the city to get on top of
breaking news, including three occasions where he was called in to negotiate
the release of hostages.
However, Borgen said his most memorable moment occurred on a New York fire
escape in the 1980s, when he persuaded a woman who had just killed a child
to surrender. The woman was holding a knife to the neck of a second child
when Borgen joined her in reciting the 23rd Psalm, and she then gave up
without hurting the child.
Borgen began his career at WCBS when Walter Cronkite, then a reporter, hired
him as a researcher and writer specifically for a piece on prisons. Borgen
was the offered a full-time job and remained with the network for more than
30 years before retiring in 1995.
"His desire was to serve the community," said his son, Christopher. "He
loved going out with a camera crew and talking with folks out on the street,
trying to understand what was at the heart of a particular story."