
CNN’s legendary sports anchor, Nick Charles, sadly passed away at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Saturday (June 25) after a long battle against bladder cancer. The 64 year-old started his career as a taxi driver before becoming the first sports broadcaster at CNN.
“Nick was your friend from the moment you met him — and he stayed your friend forever,” said Rick Davis, one of Charles’ producers at CNN in the 1980s. “All of us who had the very good fortune to have been his friend have so much to remember about how he touched our lives in his own special way,” said Davis, who is CNN’s executive vice president of News Standards and Practices.
Nick Nickeas, whose true passion was boxing, had to change his name to Nick Charles when he got his first anchor job at the age of 24. Later, Charles and Fred Hickman, one of the most dynamic and revolutionary anchor duos in sports, hosted the successful “Sports Tonight” for two decades.
“His passing is a loss to CNN, to the sports world and to the fans and friends everywhere who were with him to the end of his extraordinary life,” said Jim Walton, Charles’ field producer in his early days and current president of CNN Worldwide.
In a recent interview, Charles revealed he had the opportunity to start preparing his family for his inevitable death. He claimed he had the privilege of being able to prepare birthday video diaries for his youngest child, 5 year-old daughter Giovanna.
“This is a gift from God where I need to build these memories for her, so that I’m not a blur,” he said. “I feel that when I go, that I’m going to prepare a place for my daughter and my wife. I’m going to be in their heart and soul. I tell them that every day.”
“It’s an imperfect world, but, boy, it’s still beautiful. What is life?” he said. “It’s 20 percent what happens to you and 80 percent how you react to it. Find that little kernel every day that brings you pleasure and joy — and fasten onto that. That’s what’s going to make life worth living. Always look for the best.”
“When you’re contemplating your mortality and your life,” he said, “those are the things I reflect on.”
Charles is survived by his wife of 13 years, Cory, their daughter Giovanna, and three children from two previous marriages (Jason, 39; Melissa, 36; and Katie, 24). The anchor also leaves an important legacy: “Embrace Life”, a project to stop child trafficking and abuse.
R.I.P. Nick Charles.