Chicago’s first TV traffic reporter on the morning news will sign off for the final time this spring.
Roz Varon, ABC 7 Chicago’s top traffic and transportation reporter, will retire on April 5 after 35 years at the station, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
The Emmy-winning reporter and stage 4 breast cancer survivor is celebrated for helping Chicagoans navigate daily commutes, informing viewers about events and advocating for cancer prevention and awareness.
“I am incredibly grateful to all of our viewers,” Varon told the Sun-Times. “I find it very gratifying that I have been able to help so many people get to their destinations in a safe and timely manner.”
Now 66, Varon got her start as a radio traffic reporter after graduating from Columbia College Chicago. She said her first audition for the gig with WLS-Channel 7 was “awful.”
“I went home and had a pity party and then I said, ‘Wait a minute, who am I competing against?’ ” Varon recalled in a video on the ABC 7 website.
“Everybody else came from radio and they were all terrible, too. So, I was competing against myself. And I went and made another audition tape and I wrote a letter and I came back and said, ‘I’m the person that you want to hire for this job because I know traffic in Chicago like nobody else.’ ”
Varon made good on her promise, becoming a popular presence on the station since 1989.
“There’s no doubt that Roz’s pioneering efforts on the traffic beat have paved the way for others in Chicago and around the country,” ABC 7 President and General Manager John Idler said in the announcement. “We congratulate Roz on her many achievements, professionally and personally.”
Following her cancer diagnosis in 2006, Varon decided to use her platform to help others with their own battles.
“I thought by talking about this and saying cancer is not necessarily a death sentence, it gave me an opportunity to educate and be a conduit for somebody who doesn’t know where to turn,” Varon told the Sun-Times.
Varon also won the Illinois Broadcasters Association’s Silver Dome Award for her breast cancer special, “Faces of Inspiration.”
Varon can count Oprah Winfrey among her many fans; the iconic television host invited Varon to participate in an “anchor makeover show” in the ‘90s.
Years later, during her recovery, Varon attended a taping of Winfrey’s show, and was invited to stay and meet with the host.
“It meant so much to me that she took the time to talk to me and take pictures,” Varon said. “She said, ‘Take that wig off, be proud.’ So, I whipped it off.”
Winfrey also gave Varon a card, which Varon kept.
“You can beat this,” Winfrey wrote. “I’m thinking of you and praying for your healing.”
In addition to reporting on traffic and transportation, Varon developed the award-winning “Weekender” series highlighting Chicago-area events. She also published a book, “On the Road with Roz: Adventures in Travel and Life.”
The book includes the story of her trip via train to Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C.
“I had no credentials, I had no press passes,” said Varon, who eventually found a way to document the event for ABC 7, sending in pictures and video. “That will always stand out because I was able to not only finagle my way to get on the lawn, but I was able to finagle my way into [an inaugural] ball.”
Varon said she looks forward to sleeping, exercising, spending time with her dogs and cat, and visiting her 28-year-old daughter in New Mexico. She also said she’ll consider writing another book about her travels.
In addition to making history in Chicago, Roz is one of the first TV traffic reporters in the entire United States — though she said her research indicates she might actually be the first.
“I have claimed that title,” she said. “That would make me very happy to be my legacy. And if you find out somebody else did it before me, don’t tell me.”
