By Ann von Dehsen, January 14, 2021 — When I was in high school my friends and I loved taking the bus to go clothes shopping in New York City. I funded this somewhat expensive habit by becoming the neighborhood babysitter. This wasn’t hard to do since lots of young families with small children were moving into the neighborhood, And once I babysat for one family, the word just spread. I really liked kids, and the families treated me well, supplying me with snacks and paying me generously.
My favorite family was the Siegenthallers. I loved their children ages 4 and 2, their Victorian house and furniture, and the way Mr. and Mrs. Siegenthaller, also known as Anita and Bob, often sat down with me upon their return just to chat about high school, boyfriends, possible future colleges. Anita was pregnant with her third child, which meant an ongoing Friday afternoon babysitting job while she went into the city for a weekly doctor’s appointment, and then met her husband at work to go out for dinner in the city.
Well, Bob’s job happened to be the producer of the 6 P.M., New York City area local news.
The anchor at that time happened to be the very young Peter Jennings, several years before he became the anchor of ABC’s 6:30 nightly news. I had once mentioned to the Siegenthallers that I thought Peter Jennings’s good looks resulted in more high school girls making a point to watch the news.
Shortly after, Bob Siegenthaller invited me and two of my friends to come into the city to introduce us to Peter Jennings and watch the newscast in the shadows of the studio. Suffice to say, Peter Jennings was better looking in real life and could not have been nicer to three nervous, tongue-tied high school girls. He walked us around the studio and let us sit in his chair as he pointed out the different cameras and weather maps. I can’t remember any news stories from that night because we just stood there mesmerized as we watched. There was also a sportscaster and a weatherman of which I have no memory. At the end of the broadcast, he walked over to us and gave us each a quick hug. Bob Siegenthaller drove us all home, and I think we repeatedly thanked him for the entire trip.
Of course, years later, when Peter Jennings did anchor the ABC Nightly News, it was the only news channel allowed in my house.