Diane Sawyer to Talk at Reagan Library

Television news anchorwoman Diane Sawyer will be the guest speaker at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on Nov. 6, the eve of the museum’s sixth anniversary.

Sawyer, who co-hosts “PrimeTime Live” on ABC, is the fall speaker of the Reagan Forum, sponsored by the Reagan Center for Public Affairs. Other speakers this year have included C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb and Sen. Fred Thompson, a Tennessee Republican.

An eight-year veteran of “PrimeTime Live,” Sawyer has earned numerous broadcast journalism awards for stories about topics including racial discrimination and day care. She has interviewed newsmakers ranging from presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton to Cuban President Fidel Castro and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Before joining ABC, Sawyer spent nine years with CBS News, anchoring “60 Minutes” and the “CBS Morning News.” Over the course of her career, Sawyer has covered the State Department and Republican and Democratic national conventions.

In the 1970s, Sawyer worked for President Nixon’s administration in various capacities. She also helped Nixon write his memoirs in 1974 and 1975.

She began her broadcasting career in 1967 in Louisville, Ky., where she was raised. Sawyer graduated from Wellesley College and completed a semester of law school before changing her career path.

Sawyer’s speech will begin at 6 p.m. at the Reagan library, 40 Presidential Drive. Tickets for the speech cost $35 a person. For information, call 522-2977.