At the tender age of 22, Dini Petty broke ground with Toronto radio station CKEY as Canada’s first female traffic reporter to fly solo in a helicopter. After 5,000 hours in the air she landed her pink chopper and went on to a stellar career as a news anchor at Citytv and as a talk show host at CFTO’s The Dini Petty Show (1989-1999)
Petty brought a bonafide news cred to her daytime series that allowed her to tackle politicians as well as celebrities such as Harrison Ford, Omar Sharif and Red Skelton. That still left room for consumer-friendly segments featuring guests such as, well, me. This was way back when I was a writer with TV Guide Canada and the world needed to know what the news shows would be each September.
At age 80, Petty is still up for challenging herself with new projects on new platforms. Starting Oct. 13 she returns with an hour-long special: Trailblazing Talks with Dini Petty. You can find it on The News Forum Network (check Bell, Rogers, Shaw and Telus channel listings). The venture has already been greenlit to go to series.
“At this point in my life, I am drawn to deeper conversations about resilience, courage, and the true cost of leadership,” says Petty, adding, “it is never too late to step forward with purpose.”
Petty welcomes first guests actress Tonya Williams (The Young and the Restless) and three-time Olympic gold medalist and senator Marnie McBean. Petty’s own story, however, sets the trailblazing bar high. Listen as she recounts the ten times so far she feels she has defied death! All this week on brioux.tv: the podcast.
To listen to the episode, click on the white arrow in the blue dot above.
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