Princess Jessica A Controversial Biography Due Out Next Month Paints A Picture Of Jessica Savitch Unlike The One That Appeared On Ch. 3 Newscasts In The 1970s

"Encountering the lethal competition and relentless pressure of NBC's Washington bureau at the relatively tender age of 30 (she consistently represented herself as a year younger on all publicity releases) would have been hard on even the most mature and well balanced of broadcasters, and Savitch was neither . . . Newsroom regulars traded tales of her temper tantrums, her high-hat demands, her reportorial fumbles, and her alleged affairs with various news division VIPs. Nonetheless, even her most bitter critics had to acknowledge that she had a red-light reflex to die for; when the scarlet light went on over a studio camera, signaling that she was on the air, Savitch summoned up every ounce of her 100-pound frame and projected herself straight through the television set into the viewer's living room . . . In, 1983, Savitch was no longer young, nor was she a rising star. She'd been through two short, unhappy marriages . . . Worse, she had discovered the unpleasant realities involved in achieving her life-long dream of celebrity. A crazed Nebraska farmer had written letters threatening to kill Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Alexander Haig if she did not return his affections, then managed to get into her office when she was alone; terrified, she shoved him out the door, locked it, then hid under her desk, shaking uncontrollably until network security arrived. From then on, a uniformed bodyguard was assigned to her whenever she was at 30 Rock. The same week, she had a miscarriage."

From "Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News," by Gwenda Blair, Simon & Schuster.

Jessica Savitch turned to gold in Philadelphia, then turned to cocaine in New York, according to a myth-shattering biography that depicts the former KYW-TV anchor as a driven, unstable, tantrum-throwing "princess."

The book says her path was pot-holed with two brief, unhappy marriages, coke and speed, numerous boyfriends (a couple of whom battered her), an abortion, an affair with "60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley, and, finally, rumors of romantic interludes with women.

Even though she reached maturity in the free-love and free-wheeling 1960s, it's still astonishing to read that the life of one of America's most prominent TV anchors was dominated by sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.