Lew Wood

[1] In 1952, Wood began his broadcasting career at WDZ, a commercial radio station in Decatur, Illinois, soon after graduating from Purdue.

He covered the Civil Rights Movement for CBS News, including one of the marches with Martin Luther King Jr.[2] He was one of the CBS reporters who covered President John F. Kennedy's visit to Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, on the day of Kennedy's assassination.

[2] Wood later learned that President Kennedy had been shot while speaking with CBS colleague Dan Rather during a brief phone conversation.

[2] Lew Wood also worked as a news anchor for WNBC, the New York City flagship station of NBC.

[1] He anchored the news portion of the show opposite Today's other three on-air personalities: Barbara Walters, Jim Hartz and Gene Shalit.