Joel Daly, longtime ABC 7 news anchor, dead at 86

Shortly after Joel Daly arrived in Chicago in 1967, he was paired at the WLS-Ch. 7 news anchor desk with Fahey Flynn and, in the company of sportscaster Bill Frink and weatherman John Coleman, they successfully crafted a brand of news that would become known as “happy talk.”

In so doing, they influenced a generation of television news personality, but Daly would lead a life beyond the cameras that deified easy categorization.

Joel Daly died in the early morning Thursday. He had been suffering from vascular parkinsonism and was in hospice care at the suburban home of his daughter Kelly. He was 86 years old.

“He died peacefully,” said his daughter, who was with him at the time. “This is the way I believe he wanted his life to end and he was able to see his beloved dog.”

Joel Daly was born August 21, 1934 and Great Falls, Cascade, Montana, and graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1956.

He worked for a short in radio and in television in Cleveland before arriving in Chicago. During his nearly 40 years with WLS-Ch. 7, he not only led the station to the top of the ratings, he helped influence a generation to watch TV personalities (“We came down from Olympus, and we just became regular people talking to regular people. It’s the best form of communication.” he once told a reporter). He worked alongside Flynn, Mary Ann Childress, Linda Yu and, for a time during an “experiment” before her superstardom came calling, Oprah, and was able to display gifts that defied the “happy talk” label, contributing frequent commentaries that were erudite, serious and intelligent.

He never was a one-dimensional talking head. Among his outside-TV activities: piloting airplanes; singing with the Sundowners country band; attending law school and pass the bar in 1988; and taking to various local stages as an actor playing, among many roles, Atticus Finch in a 1994 Wisdom Bridge Theatre production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

After leaving television he became Information Officer of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and wrote a fine and lively biography, “The Daly News: A life on Television News” (Eckhart Press).

He lost his charming wife Sue in 2014 when she died of complications from lung cancer at their La Grange Highlands home. They had been married for 57 years and had suffered the pain of losing two adult sons Doug and Scott.

Daly is survived by daughter Kelly and two granddaughters. Services will be private.

This story will be updated.

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