Ina Gail Jaffe (September 17, 1948 – August 1, 2024) was an American journalist. She was a longtime correspondent for NPR.[1]
Ina Jaffe | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 17, 1948 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 1, 2024 (aged 75) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Employer | NPR |
Early life
editJaffe was born in Chicago in 1948 to Charlotte Jaffe, an elementary school teacher, and Max Jaffe, a luggage manufacturer.[2][3] She grew up in Glencoe.[3] As a teenager, Jaffe sang and played guitar at coffeehouses in the city, and she began acting while attending New Trier High School.[2][3]
Jaffe attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1972.[2][3] She went on to obtain a master's degree in philosophy from DePaul University in 1977.[2]
Career
editIn the 1970s, Jaffe and her husband, Lenny Kleinfeld, were members of the Chicago Organic Theater Company.[3][4] While working as an actress and waitress, Jaffe also wrote some pieces for the Chicago Reader.[2][3] After becoming a journalist, Jaffe used her theater background to combine "dramatic narrative" with a matter-of-fact attitude.[5]
Jaffe was an early member of NPR's Chicago bureau in the late 1970s.[3][4] In 1983, Jaffe covered the election of Harold Washington, Chicago's first Black mayor.[4][5]
In 1985, after moving to NPR's office in Washington, D.C., she became the first editor of NPR's Weekend Edition.[2][4] She also appeared on All Things Considered and Morning Edition.[2]
In the late 1980s, she moved to Los Angeles[3] to work for NPR's Western Bureau in Southern California. There, she covered the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 2003 election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor.[2][5]
In her later years, Jaffe was NPR's correspondent on aging, telling stories about aging "with no cuteness or condescension".[2][5] In 2011 and 2012 she broke a story about the Veterans Administration leasing portions of its West Los Angeles Medical Center campus to businesses that were not focused on serving veterans.[1][3][5] Her reporting on the case won her awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Alliance for Women in Media.[1] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jaffe reported on its impact on nursing homes.[2]
Personal life and death
editJaffe married her husband, Lenny Kleinfeld, in 1969.[2] The two had met while attending the University of Wisconsin.[3]
Jaffe was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, and with metastatic breast cancer in 2019. She wrote about the diagnosis publicly in 2021.[2][6] She died from the cancer in Los Angeles, on August 1, 2024, at the age of 75.[1][2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Lindner, Emmett (2024-08-03). "Ina Jaffe, Dogged and Award-Winning NPR Reporter, Dies at 75". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Langer, Emily (2024-08-06). "Ina Jaffe, stalwart NPR correspondent, dies at 75". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dudek, Mitch (2024-08-10). "Ina Jaffe, NPR correspondent, former Chicago actor, has died at 75". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ a b c d Simon, Scott (2024-08-03). "Opinion: Remembering our colleague and friend, Ina Jaffe". NPR.
- ^ a b c d e Bates, Karen Grigsby (2024-08-01). "Remembering the life and work of NPR correspondent Ina Jaffe". NPR.
- ^ Jaffe, Ina (2021-06-22). "Why I Kept My Cancer A Secret, And Why I Won't Anymore". NPR. Retrieved 2024-08-19.