Honored Guest & Keynote Speaker
Larry Kane

As the dean of Philadelphia television news anchors, Larry Kane is well known to most of the members of our area. Less well known is Larry's commitment to the Abington community as an active and involved resident of Abington Township for the past 33 years.

Larry's life has been one of service to his community as well as accomplishment in his professional career. His mother's unsuccessful battle against Multiple Sclerosis was a pivotal event in his realizing his need and desire to perform community service. As a result of that sad circumstance, Larry has served as the campaign chairman of the Delaware Valley Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Larry's illustrious career included many years as anchor of the 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM newscast for KYW-3 and WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. Prior to these positions, he worked for WABC-TV in New York and was the anchor for WPVI-TV in Philadelphia where he propelled the station to first place in the news ratings in 1970 and 1971.

Covering politics and government in Philadelphia and nationally, he has interviewed a virtual who's who of newsmakers, including every President since Lyndon B. Johnson. His assignments have encompassed all the national political conventions, Presidential inaugurations, and many of the major current events of the past 30 years. In 1985, he and his colleagues were honored with the prestigious Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for their coverage of the confrontation between Philadelphia Police and the radical group MOVE which resulted in the burning of a Philadelphia neighborhood.

On a lighter note, Larry was privileged to be the only American journalist to be invited to travel with the Beatles on their famous 1964-65 tours of America. He has written a book about that experience, to be published this fall, entitled Ticket to Ride. In 2000, he published his first book, Larry Kane's Philadelphia, about many of the important interviews he conducted during the course of his career. Recently retired after spending 45 years in broadcasting, Larry is currently serving as a broadcast consultant and has begun a reporter/anchor coaching and mentoring service, so that he can pass on the knowledge he has gained about the industry to those younger people coming after him.

Although Larry's career has been very demanding of his time and focus, he has always been committed to being an active contributor to organizations and events that help to make our community a healthy and enriching one for young people. As a founding participant in the "We Can Say No" initiative, he enabled the organization to gain credibility in its fight against substance abuse in the community. As Honorary Chairman he not only lent his name but also his effort and presence to a day-long rally attended by all students in the Abington School District. Larry was a true working Chairman whose inspiration and commitment enabled "We Can Say No" to begin more than 15 years of a continuing effort to educate our youth about the perils of substance abuse.

Larry was also a strong supporter when the Abington Police Department initiated the DARE program. He has been a speaker at the 24-Hour Relay. He and his family have been loyal supporters of the Jenkintown Day Nursery and the Women's Center of Montgomery County. A member of Old York Road Temple-Beth Am, Larry will speak at its annual members' meeting in May.

It is through Larry's work in the community that he has come to believe that the strength of Abington Township lies in the talents and enthusiasm of its citizens and in their concern for each other and their community. He hopes to see Abington become even more diverse than it presently is, with people from all walks of life. He believes that the Township would be a better place to live if there were more open space, especially park space for people to gather and more community centers for youth to gather.

Larry lives in Abington with his wife Donna, who is very involved as a volunteer at the Women's Center of Montgomery County. They have two grown children, Michael and Alexandra, both of whom graduated from Abington High School. Larry enjoys golf, reading, fitness, and swimming in his rare spare time.

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