Veteran Pittsburgh News Anchor Adam Lynch Dies

PITTSBURGH, PA - Legendary Pittsburgh news anchor Adam Lynch, whose booming voice commanded attention to the stories he delivered over his long career, died Tuesday in San Antonio, Texas, where he had been living with family. He was 89.

Mr. Lynch’s long career began at WEDO, a McKeesport radio station, in the late 1940s. He worked at KDKA-TV in the late 1950s, WIIC-TV (now WPXI) from 1963 to 1979 and at WTAE-TV from 1980 until his retirement in 1993.

The McKeesport native and former Monroeville resident was active in retirement, writing for publications such as Pittsburgh Quarterly, where he wrote primarily about historic or military aviation events.

Many tributes to Mr. Lynch were posted on Facebook from former co-workers and friends.

“We used to say that Adam was the oldest `cub’ reporter in Pittsburgh,” recalled former WTAE-TV assistant news director John Poister. “He brought an eagerness and enthusiasm to his work every day. He always asked the right questions in the newsroom - and the best questions in the field.”

“He was one of my favorite people: well-read, quick to laugh, intellectually curious, precise, devoted to facts,” said Beth Dolinar, who co-anchored WTAE’s weekend newscasts with Mr. Lynch in the late 1980s. “He loved fishing and beer and aircraft...He called me Bethie, and was the best partner I could have asked for.”

Longtime Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV critic Rob Owen noted that he and Mr. Lynch went to lunch together periodically to discuss local TV news coverage.

“He loved TV news but was also a great critic of the business,” Owen recalled. “He became a friend and someone I looked to to bounce questions of TV news ethics off of. And he was just a good guy with a great, big laugh who wore his emotions on his sleeve.”

Funeral arrangements for Mr. Lynch were not immediately available.

Photo via WTAE-TV.