Doris Biscoe, pioneering former WXYZ anchorwoman, dies at 77

It is with a heavy heart I post this…

Biscoe, who was born in Washington D.C. in 1946, joined WXYZ as a night reporter in 1973. She previously worked as a radio DJ in Maryland and hosted a weekly public affairs show in Washington D.C. before coming to Detroit. Throughout her tenure at WXYZ, Biscoe was one of the most visible Black broadcast journalists in Detroit, and throughout America.

An informative, illustrated page on Ms Biscoe and her groundbreaking career over at broadcastingvault.com

From Wikipedia's page on Detroit's WXYZ-TV…

In 1987, the station created and produced a weekly educational literacy program aimed at children called Learn To Read, which was based on the audio-lingual method of literacy education, and was co-produced by Kentucky Educational Television. One of the hosts of this series was then WXYZ-TV news anchor Doris Biscoe.

From a (much exaggerated) account by blogger Tod Ridley at Medium, Tonya Harding and Doris Biscoe Walk Into a Laundry-mat…

In Detroit, in the 90’s, there were two rival stations in Detroit that mattered. ABC Channel 7 and NBC Channel 4. Doris Biscoe was the Grand Dame of Channel 7. She was a strong and confident, gorgeous and gigantic, 6’6″ African American. [emphasis mine -- r² ]

I knew these details of her because the news station for Channel 7 was next to our college campus. I regularly saw Doris pulling into the station in her Lincoln Continental, head slightly bent over because of her height. She was a God. And fabulous.

Yes, Ms Biscoe was fabulous and tall but 6'6"? While I can't disprove this by-eye measurement (while sitting down), I think Ridley maybe was a bit starstruck at the time.

Cause of death has not yet been announced. Condolences to the surviving family from all of us at !detroit.