Herbert Kaplow, veteran NBC, ABC reporter dies at 86

HERBERT KAPLOW, a veteran reporter for both the ABC and NBC networks died Saturday, July 27, at the Virginia Hospital Center following a stroke. He was 86. Kaplow, a craggy voiced broadcast journalist began his career while covering the Nuremberg Trials. Through the years he was on TV and radio, Kaplow covered the Korean War, the Civil Rights struggle, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, every political convention from the 1950s and the administrations of ten U.S. presidents.

Born in New York, Kaplow graduated from Flushing High School and nearby Queens College. He later attended the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, graduating in 1951, the same year he began working as a reporter for NBC News. He moved to the ABC News bureau in 1972 as a senior political correspondent for ABC Radio and stayed there until his retirement in 1994. Kaplow was noted for his coverage of Congress and presidential politics, but also filed reports from a number of cities dealing with nationally prominent mayors and other leaders.

Kaplow received a number of awards for his work. He won a Unity Award in 1983 for his radio reports “The Kennedy Years” and “The Dream Revisited,” a program that recalled the historic civil right march on Washington in August of 1963. More recently, he received a 1997 Emmy Award for his work on the PBS series “Religious Newsmakers.” Following his retirement, he was named a member of the Medill School’s Hall of Achievement.

Kaplow is survived by his wife Betty and three sons. A funeral service was conducted today at 11 a.m. at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, VA with burial immediately following in the King David Cemetery in Falls Church.