Beverly Schanzer retired to Sag Harbor after a successful media career that, among other things, included work as a writer and producer in the CBS news division and at NBC. She won four Emmy Awards and two Peabodys, the latter for a children’s program mandated by the Federal Communications Commission called “In the News at CBS.”
At CBS, she worked with the correspondents Mike Wallace, Douglas Edwards, and Charles Collingsworth. She credited Betty Furness, a former Westinghouse spokeswoman and actress who appeared as a consumer affairs expert on NBC’s “Today,” as being her mentor.
After CBS and NBC, she went on to write and produce “Daytime,” as part of a joint Hearst-ABC venture into the “nascent cable television world,” wrote a friend, Jeremiah T. Mulligan of East Hampton. There was little daytime programming outside of soap operas at the time; “Daytime,” which later became “Lifetime,” changed that and became a big success.
Ms. Schanzer wrote scripts for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Cotton Bowl Parade. She worked with Charles Schulz, creator of “Peanuts,” and with the actress Betty White. And, according to Mr. Mulligan, “she even was Ann Landers for a time,” stepping in to write the column while Ms. Landers was on vacation. In a letter thanking Ms. Schanzer that Mr. Mulligan, her executor, found among her belongings, Ms. Landers wrote, “You sound just like me.”
Her “final gig,” Mr. Mulligan wrote, “was her own business, the A Team & Associates,” which arranged satellite media tours, which were “revolutionary at that time. Beverly said Mary Higgins Clark, James Michener, Hillary Clinton, mystery writers as a group, and particularly Jimmy Carter were all good to work with. Martha Stewart and Nancy Reagan were not.”
Ms. Schanzer died on Feb. 14 at Peconic Landing in Greenport. She was 83 and had A.L.S., Lou Gehrig’s disease.
As successful as her career in media had been, it was not her first choice, her executor said. Born in New York City into a military family on July 13, 1938, she lived in many places around the country and the world. “She managed to go through fourth grade two and a half times, by which time she knew the curriculum better than her teachers. Later, her ambition was to be a large-animal vet,” Mr. Mulligan wrote. “That plan was nixed by her grandmother, who declared, ‘You are not going to college to help cows give birth.’ So, after Hunter High School, she went to Syracuse University and majored in American studies.”
In Sag Harbor, Ms. Schanzer “was very active socially.” She returned to her early dream of protecting animals, advocating for deer and wildlife. She entertained senior citizens at the East Hampton Town Senior Citizens Center, Mr. Mulligan said; played tennis, and entertained often. She loved to dress up for the holidays, and “she loved to have a good time.”
She taught English as a second language for three years with Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church’s outreach program. She also loved to travel, and had been to many places on several continents.
“She will be missed by her many friends,” Mr. Mulligan said.
Ms. Schanzer is survived by an older brother, Howard Schanzer of La Vista, Neb.
Contributions in her memory have been suggested to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978. Ms. Schanzer was cremated. A memorial will be held in the spring.
