"The Jackie Robinson of news" - Maury Povich recounts encouraging wife Connie Chung to write her memoir

TV personality Maury Povich compared his wife, Connie Chung, to Jackie Robinson. On April 23, 2025, Chung received the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from The Silurians Press Club. At the event, Chung thanked Povich, who helped him write her memoir, Connie, in 2024.

According to People Magazine, Chung admitted that she hadn’t considered herself as someone with a story worth sharing. However, Maury Povich encouraged her to see things differently. Recalling Povich’s words, Chung said:

“‘You have a story to tell.’ And I said, ‘I don't have a story to tell.’ And he said, ‘No, yes you do. You're the Jackie Robinson of news.’”

Chung shared that writing her memoir was a major challenge since she wasn’t used to working on something lengthy. She felt television stories were much shorter in comparison. She and Maury Povich had been pursuing adoption because she joked that she forgot to get married.

Eventually, Povich reminded her of how much she wanted to become a mother, and they started the adoption process. Chung recalled that when CBS offered her a lesser role instead of the co-anchor position she had hoped for, she turned it down, choosing instead to focus on starting a new chapter of life with her son.

In a 2020 piece by the magazine outlet, Chung mentioned that she first met Povich in 1969. He barely acknowledged her then, and she eventually left to build her career. Years later, by 1977, they both ended up in Los Angeles, where she had become a lead anchor.

Povich, who had been let go from his job, joked that she initially felt sorry for him, which helped spark their connection.

Maury Povich called himself Mr. Chung in an interview

In 2022, Maury Povich and Connie Chung sat down with CBS Sunday Morning’s Mo Rocca, where Chung shared that when they first worked together, Maury Povich didn’t notice her. She would hand him wire reports, and he wouldn’t pay much attention.

When asked if she secretly had feelings for him back then, she denied it. Povich mentioned they dated for over seven years without living together, and Chung said that arrangement worked well. They got married in 1984 but continued living in different cities, which they felt made the relationship ideal.

Maury Povich jokingly pointed out it took her ten years to add him to the house deed, to which she playfully shifted the focus away from herself. Povich jokingly said,

“I have been Mr. Chung for almost 40 years all right? It's just, I mean, I mean if you take a look at it in terms of my career, you could absolutely track that all of my success, my national success came after I married this woman.”

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Maury Povich shared that Connie Chung brought stability to his life and always supported and believed in his potential. He also reflected on how significant it was when she was removed from the CBS Evening News in 1995.

One thing he often found challenging was that Connie didn’t fully realize the impact she had made. Over time, however, she began to understand it more, especially as she started receiving messages from young Asian journalists.

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