One of a handful of local African-American anchorwomen inducted into The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame, Thomas-Laury launched her TV career as a weather girl at a West Virginia station while studying journalism at Marshall University. After graduation, she worked for the NBC affiliate in Oklahoma City, was a co-anchor in Baltimore, then moved to Nashville, where she befriended Oprah Winfrey, who was anchoring the news.

Her career at WPVI-TV began in 1978 as the noon co-anchor and reporter. (Much later, she learned that Oprah had applied for the job.) In 1983, Lisa was promoted to co-anchor of the 5pm newscast with Marc Howard. In her remarkable 38 year career, Lisa Thomas-Laury covered the Royal wedding of Princess Diana, Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball, and President Clinton’s second inauguration. Lisa was also the popular host of many Thanksgiving Day Parades, author of “On Camera and Off,” and recipient of three honorary degrees and the Liberty Bell Award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the City of Philadelphia.

Lisa has chosen the Mayo Clinic as the beneficiary of her Tasty Talk, with proceeds going towards POEM research. The Mayo Clinic specializes in treating POEM, a rare and debilitating protein disorder which can be difficult to diagnose.