Linda Carson
Linda Carson must be eating Christmas lights for breakfast. She has a sparkle that shines straight out of her face and a mischievous twinkle that lets her speak about serious topics, such as her connections with 9/11, serial killers, and the murder of Martin Luther King, in a way that feels anything but heavy. Her stories are so interesting you’d doubt them if they weren’t all recorded on news outlets nationwide and her storytelling is so top notch that even if you did doubt them, you’d have her tell them again and again in that southern singsong voice that makes you want to curl up at her feet with wide eyes and willing ears. You know that thing Betty White had? That ability to be simultaneously the heart of the joke and the devilish wink to the audience mixed with a hefty list of impressive milestone after impressive milestone that you kind of forget about because you’re too busy just straight up liking the woman? Yeah. Linda Carson has it too.
“My greatest fear on the show is what will come out of my mouth,” says Linda, referring to her lifelong career on television and current 27-year stint with ABC7 in which she’s grown a beloved reputation for saying aloud what most keep within. “My opinion is halfway out before I realize I should have stopped,” she says with her signature endearing laugh.
Some of you are already very familiar with Linda’s highlight reel, but here’s a refresher: Linda began her career in the promo department of an Atlanta newsroom but got her first on-air gig as a weather “girl” in 1964 before becoming the first woman to anchor its primetime newscast in 1966. Her husband was coaching legend “Bud” Carson, who had worked with some of the NFL’s biggest teams and is credited with creating the “Steel Curtain,” the defensive line that became the backbone of the Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty that helped them win four Super Bowls in six years. Together, the couple moved to a dozen big cities, where he would coach and she would anchor, “but I always secured a job before we got where we were going,” she says. Her southern drawl makes remarks like that seem sweet, but then you realize the absolute moxie it must have taken for a woman to climb the corporate ladder in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and beyond.
It’s also well documented that Linda was one of the few reporters in the room with President George W. Bush as he received word of the 9/11 attacks while he sat in a room full of second graders at local Emma E. Booker Elementary School; that she interviewed serial killer Danny Rolling after writing to him to ask how women could avoid being killed; and covered Martin Luther King on his civil rights campaign trail—and was even one of the few that broke the news to Coretta Scott King that her husband had been shot.
Though those stories hold extreme gravitas, Linda insists that, hands down, one of her biggest privileges was getting to interview her favorite true crime author, Ann Rule, at Marina Jack, the spot that started it all for Linda’s Sarasota journey.
“Prior to retiring, my husband came to visit his three brothers and they took a boat around the Bay,” she says. “He saw Marina Jack and called me and said, ‘This is where we’re retiring.’ I did NOT want to move here. I left Philly kicking and screaming. But, of course, once I got here I never wanted to move again.”
Marina Jack became the backdrop for much of the Carson’s life here as the go-to spot for dinner with friends, birthdays, and big events like her daughter’s wedding rehearsal, as well as many on-air interviews such as the aforementioned one with Ann Rule, in which Linda worked with the restaurant crew to ensure that every detail from linens to centerpieces was top notch in preparation of the famed author’s arrival.
“Meanwhile, in walks Ann in flip-flops and an old, wrinkled shirt,” she laughs. “But we still sat at the very best table! We even stayed until 2 a.m. talking about ghosts and murders—it was so lovely.” I guess we all have different definitions of lovely.
When I ask what makes Marina Jack so special, Linda is quick to reply.
“Marina Jack is just completely Sarasota. I think we’re losing our private little paradise with all the influx of people who plan to build multimillion-dollar estates and buy up all the beach property. We’re losing what made this town so special but you can always go to Marina Jack and look out and see the beauty of this city in a restaurant full of friendly people.”
Believe it or not, after 30 years on television, Marina Jack was actually the first place Linda applied for a job figuring maybe she’d lead a life off-air for a change, but, fortunately for us, there were no positions open so back to the news desk she went.
“I was 57 when I came to Sarasota. We laughed and said wouldn’t it be hilarious if I worked on TV until I was 60?” says Linda. “My career should have been over. I was near retirement age and had several people tell me ‘Don’t get too comfy because people don’t want to see a woman on air after 30.’” Linda’s 84 now and just signed a new contract. I sure hope those folks have a pretty plate for their humble pie.
“Any advice you’d want to give young women working to define their careers?” I ask her.
“Well,” she pauses. “I used to do a series called ‘Amazing Suncoast Woman’ and I’d always ask, ‘What is your life lesson?’ and I always wished someone would just say ‘You should marry a multimillionaire.’” Which is ironic coming from a woman who married her husband when he was jobless and has worked her heart out every day of her life. But, like I said, the woman knows how to make a joke.
‘If you have any other questions,” says Linda Carson as we wrap up our interview, “just reach out. I’ll tell you anything. That’s my problem!’
