Television trailblazer Sue Wylie dies after vehicle collision in Lexington
Longtime Lexington television news anchor and radio talk show host Sue Wylie, 90, died after a car crash in Lexington Tuesday.
Wylie was involved in a collision at the intersection of Alumni Drive and Chinoe Road, the Fayette County Coroner’s Office said in a news release. She was pronounced dead in the Emergency Department at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital at 7:47 p.m.
Five vehicles were involved in the collision, which was reported at 4:55 p.m., said Lt. Thomasena Grider of the Lexington Police Department. She said three people were taken to a local hospital after the crash, and police later learned one had died.
Wylie’s career in broadcasting began in Cincinnati in the 1950s and spanned six decades. Before joining WLEX in 1968, she worked in Columbus, Ohio, and Miami, where she was among the first women covering hard news in that television market.
She created the “Your Government” show for LEX 18 in the early 1970s and went on to host several governors on the show, as well as political figures including Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy and Jesse Jackson.
Wylie retired from a 30-year career at LEX 18 in 1998 but continued to host a talk radio show on WVLK-590 AM until 2013.
She was a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and did voices and dramatics for a Rod Serling show called “The Storm” in the 1950s, according to a brief biography on the website of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.
She was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 1999.
When she retired from WVLK ten years ago, Wylie told a Herald-Leader reporter that she had made the decision because she “did not want to be the Larry King of Lexington. I didn’t want anyone to ever say, ‘Is she still here?’”
She said she was going to miss the callers.
“Unlike most other talk shows in town, I try to make it almost completely caller-driven,” she said. “Other shows will take them, but I base my show on caller opinion. That’s what I like. “Some of them are surly. Some of them are silly. But they’re all interesting, and I really love them.”
Wylie talked politics with Jack Pattie and took calls from listeners on WVLK Monday morning. Pattie introduced her as “the first lady of broadcasting in Lexington” and said on the show that she had “done it again”: the phone lines were jammed with callers.
Wylie was memorialized as a local news icon by many who shared remembrances of her on social media Tuesday night.
Sue Wylie worked for LEX 18 from 1968 to 1998. She landed guests such as Ronald Reagan, Jessie Jackson, Nelson Rockefeller, George Wallace, and Jimmy Carter.
PHOTOS OVER THE YEARS: https://t.co/wfk7MlhPmL pic.twitter.com/wQZQcXfYAN— LEX 18 News (@LEX18News) October 25, 2023
1998 WLEX Sue Wylie's Last Day https://t.co/plPqz8iSgG via @YouTube As the first female news anchor in Kentucky retired after 30 years at WLEX-TV, the station produced a farewell edition.... who do you recognize? @DirectorCarey @UK_ABJ
— UK JAM-school (@UKJAMschool) October 25, 2023
Incredibly sad news - A close friend just told me our friend, the legendary Sue Wylie, just passed away after a car accident in Lexington this afternoon. I’m just in shock, total shock. Sue was and always will be an icon in Kentucky television @LEX18News pic.twitter.com/knPLSA0SRt
— Leigh Searcy (@LSearcLex) October 25, 2023
Devastated. Sue was a good friend and was honored to be a panelist on her "Your Government" show countless times. She was a powerhouse, a traiblazer but above all else a journalist who believed revealing the truth would result in the greater good. RIP Suehttps://t.co/hwRFGnr8af
— Brian Malloy (@brianwmalloy) October 25, 2023
Longtime LEX 18 anchor Sue Wylie dies following car crash. I only had a few occasions to interact w/her when she filled in on Comment many years ago. She was a force to be certain and leaves a remarkable legacy https://t.co/xK15sgB0NY
— Renee Shaw (@ReneeKET) October 25, 2023
I’m very sorry to hear about the death of my friend Sue Wylie.
She was a great lady. I’m so grateful that I got the chance to work with her, learn from her, but most importantly, to become friends with her. I’m really going to miss her.— Larry Glover Live (@larrygloverlive) October 25, 2023