Tony Turner

Tony Turner, (Jan. 13, 1962 - June 30, 2002) was a Television News Anchor, Vice President and Station Manager at WYMT-TV in Hazard, Kentucky.
Turner Died in June 30th 2002 after being critically injured three weeks earlier in an automobile accident in Williamsburg, KY.

Early Life, Career
Turner grew up in a coal camp in Harlan, KY, an area he would call home his entire life. As a young boy of 14, Tony began his journey toward a broadcast career by working at WFSR Radio. Tony’s love of news brought him to eastern Kentucky’s regional television station, WYMT-TV in Hazard, a CBS affiliate, in 1986. In only two years, Tony was named News Director and six o’clock News Anchor at WYMT, positions he held until his death in 2002. In addition, Tony was named WYMT’s Station Manager and Vice-President in August, 2001. His many awards included Best Reporter, Best Newscast and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Press.

Community Involvement

He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for P.R.I.D.E., a federal-state project aimed at cleaning up litter and sewer problems in Eastern Kentucky, and sat on the boards of the East Kentucky Leadership Foundation and The Center For Rural Development.

Tony Turner, left, was longtime supporter and co-host of the annual Children's Miracle Network Telethon, a fund-raiser for the University of Kentucky Children's Hospital

A scholarship fund in broadcasting has been established to award internships and scholarships to deserving and aspiring broadcasters from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky.

Memorial Highways
A section of US 421 in Leslie and Harlan Counties has been renamed in memory of Turner. He traveled US 421 from Harlan to the WYMT Studios in Hazard, KY every weekday.

Death
Turner died three weeks after sustaining injuries in an automobile accident just minutes after a live report in Williamsburg, KY for WYMT's sister station WKYT-TV in Lexington, KY. He is often referred to as the voice of the mountains in the viewing area his station reached.

Published book

The story of Tony Turner was written by Tony's brother Tracy Turner in the book That's The Way It Was, published in 2005 by Fox Mountain Publishing Co. The story takes readers on a heart warming journey through the early years of one of the Commonwealths most beloved broadcasters. The book has many photographs that reveal a part of Tony's life that the public never got to see.

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