A news anchor’s affirmation of life
“I hope to die young, but as late in life as possible.” That quote from a Greek philosopher was a favorite of the legendary broadcaster and anchorman Ernie Anastos, who passed away a few weeks ago at age 82. Ernie spent more than 40 years delivering the news on New York’s airwaves, but he also remained connected to The Christophers since befriending our former director, Father John Catoir, in the 1980s. The Christopher motto – “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness” – resonated with Ernie, whose approach to life was always a positive one.
During a “Christopher Closeup” interview in 2017, Ernie recalled his formative years: “I grew up in a home where we were taught to feel good about life [by] my mom, my dad, and particularly my grandfather, who was one of the first ordained Greek Orthodox priests in America…He would walk out the door, and he would have some fruit in his hand to go visit someone in the hospital. He would go to a neighbor’s house, and he would talk to people…He brought people together. I remember in our home—because my grandparents lived with us—there would be meetings where he would bring in people from the Catholic faith, Jewish faith. He would be open to making sure we all understood that we came from the same source and that we were brothers and sisters and that we would love one another and respect one another. I learned that from him.”
It was in his grandfather’s extensive collection of books where Ernie first read the aforementioned quote by the Greek philosopher: That idea, Ernie said, reflects “the spirit and the affirmation of life. It’s wanting to make sure that you never feel bored, that you always realize the magic and the newness…that we have in front of us, to be able to explore and become everything that we possibly could be, and to learn from others.”
As much as Ernie tried to inject positivity into his work, the sad truth is that the news is often dark. How did he keep from becoming cynical when faced with those situations? Ernie responded, “The good Lord has given us life…We can turn it into something beautiful or something ugly. With my experience working in the news all these years, I’ve seen the injustices. I’ve seen the unfairness. I’ve seen the pain…I remember being on the air September 11th. I didn’t stop for months…Even to this day, we’ve had so many current events, unfortunately, that have happened, where you say to yourself, what’s wrong? How come we can’t come together?...What can we do to try and make this a better world? I think we all have that opportunity. We just have to find a way.”
Ernie attributed his longevity in the TV news business back to his immigrant grandparents, noting, “I can relate to all of those different age groups, especially now, since I’ve been married many years. My wife and I have raised two beautiful children and now we have grandchildren…[I can relate to] people of all ages, of all ethnicities, of all races. I feel like I’ve been blessed to have that in my life.”
The people who got to know Ernie Anastos, either personally or on our TV screens, were also blessed to have him in our lives. Though we wish he could have had more years on this earth, we are grateful that his youthful attitude stayed with him all his days.
For free copies of the Christopher News Note How Do You Define Success, write: The Christophers, 264 West 40th Street, Room 603, New York, NY 10018; or e-mail: mail@christophers.org.
