Before Oprah: Ruth Lyons, the Woman Who Created Talk TV - New Book From Orange Frazer...

Before Oprah: Ruth Lyons, the Woman Who Created Talk TV - New Book From Orange
Frazer Press and Author Michael Banks on Sale Nationwide Beginning April 14th

CINCINNATI, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Before Oprah there was Ruth Lyons, a
pioneer of broadcasting who invented daytime talk television. In a new book
scheduled to go on sale April 14th, author Michael Banks reveals how Lyon's
groundbreaking work influenced the future careers of David Letterman, Jane
Pauley, Phil Donahue and one of television's most notorious personalities,
Jerry Springer.

Before Oprah: Ruth Lyons, the Woman Who Created Talk TV is the first
comprehensive biography of this pioneering broadcaster and successful
businesswoman. To her legions of fans, Ruth Lyons was a beloved entertainer,
but she was also a mother, homemaker, and philanthropist. From Lyons'
beginning in the 1920s as a pioneer in radio, a time when most women were
confined to the home or narrow careers, Before Oprah recounts the improbable
rise of a path-setting talk-show host and the growth of radio and television
broadcasting during the 20th century.

With the debut of her successful TV show in 1955, the 50/50 Club, Ruth Lyons
attracted a loyal audience of millions. With a mix of sentimentality and
caustic commentary, she ad-libbed her way through commercials and interviews
with Hollywood stars and notable personalities, and her mere mention of a
product could turn it into a household name. At the height of her fame,
national magazines labeled Lyons "the most influential housewife in America."

A woman of immense determination and character, Lyons often clashed with
network executives and advertising men more used to giving orders than taking
them. Her views were far in advance of the time and she bravely deplored the
racism and intolerance so commonplace in 20th century America. Before Oprah
follows Ruth Lyons' rise from humble beginnings to the tragic death of her
beloved daughter in 1967 that led her to end a broadcasting career at the
height of her popularity.

Ruth Lyons' role in the history of broadcasting is now largely forgotten, but
Banks' new book restores the fame of this once-celebrated television pioneer
and lifts her to a rightful place among the pantheon of entertainment giants
of the 20th Century.

* Category: Biography - Entertainment and Broadcasting
ISBN 978-1933197-494
* Format: Hardcover, 250 pages, $24.95
* On Sale: April 14, 2009
* Visit us at: http://www.orangefrazer.com

SOURCE Orange Frazer Press

Sarah Hawley, Orange Frazer Press, +1-937-382-3196, sarah@orangefrazer.com