Headlines in the Midlands
Celebrated broadcast journalist in Columbia last weekend
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Broadcast journalist Rita Cosby – three-time Emmy winner and New York Times bestselling author – was in Columbia last weekend speaking at a festival and a church, and signing copies of her acclaimed book, "QUIET HERO: Secrets from My Father's Past" (Simon & Schuster, May 2010).
Cosby – whose book is about her father, Ryszard Kossobudzki, a Polish Resistance fighter during World War II – was the featured speaker at the Richland Two Education Foundation's Literature and Arts Festival at Richland Northeast High School, Saturday.
Sunday morning she was a special guest speaker at Columbia's First Baptist Church.
"It was and is always very special for me to be back in Columbia and to share this story about redemption and forgiveness with my own father," says Cosby, a former Fox News Channel and MSNBC primetime show-host and current special correspondent for CBS's Inside Edition and CNN's Headline News. "Columbia holds a very sentimental place in my heart and I love coming back to help the school district and the community. This is such a vibrant, caring community, where people want to give back. I am proud to call Columbia my second home."
Cosby, a graduate the University of South Carolina's School of Journalism, is a recipient of USC's Outstanding Young Alumni Award. In September, she accepted for her father, the MAJ. GEN. JAMES E. LIVINGSTON AWARD for his service to America and the free world during World War II.
Proceeds from Cosby's book go toward Operation Enduring Care, a USO program aimed at helping wounded soldiers and their families.
