When Monica Pearson signed off from the Channel 2 Action News anchor desk in 2012 after 37 years, she was feted in style, in keeping with her long tenure at the station and her beloved status in the community.
"Good Morning America" co-host Robin Roberts served as mistress of ceremonies for a black-tie banquet at the Fox Theatre, and video tributes included warm wishes from Oprah Winfrey and "Entertainment Tonight" host Nancy O'Dell.
“This evening, while you salute me, I salute you,” Pearson said to the packed ballroom that night. “I salute all of you. I salute the God who created all of us to be agents of change as we walk through life.”
She eagerly embarked on new adventures, enrolling in the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication to earn a master’s degree and starting a column in Southern Seasons magazine. But the airwaves would eventually lure her back, and beginning Sunday she will host a new radio show on R&B station Kiss 104.1. It will air from noon to 2 p.m. Sundays.
“My motto: wear out not rust out!” she posted on Twitter.
Tony Kidd, Cox Media Group Atlanta Radio's vice president of programming, noted Pearson's long interest in radio, beginning during her high school days in Louisville, Ky., when she would read prayers on a religious program and worked on voice-over openings for a local radio host.
Kidd said he decided to give Pearson an open mic to “do what she does best.” She’ll tell stories, air some interviews and play music, some on the Kiss playlist, some her personal R&B favorites.
Pearson has been flooded with messages of support on her Twitter feed.
"Can I call in?" her former Channel 2 colleague John Bachman posted.
“YES!” she answered.
"I am extremely excited about working for Kiss 104.1, Atlanta's best R&B," Pearson said in a statement. "It allows me to return to my first love, radio, working with great music, great people and to remain in the Cox Media Group family. This is an opportunity for people to see me in a different light. After all, I consider myself the Madonna of broadcasting, always changing."
Kiss 104.1 and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are both part of Cox Media Group.
Contributing: Rodney Ho
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