Journalist, an ex-Greenwich resident, recalls covering 9/11 attacks for national news
By Suzanna Lourie, The Saratogian
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Most days, former WABC Eyewitness News Senior Executive Producer Elaine Peake would be at her desk in the ABC building in Manhattan by 8:15 a.m. But on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Peake, who now lives in the Spa City, went first to a doctor's appointment near her home in Greenwich, Conn."I was driving in, and I heard on the radio that a small plane had hit the World Trade Center," she said. "We didn't know anything. We just thought, `Wow, that's a big story.' But when I heard about the second plane, I remember hitting the steering wheel. Then I knew it was terrorism."
Determined to do her duty as a journalist, Peake fought through traffic across a bridge into the city.
"It was like a movie. Everyone in the media was trying to head in, and everyone else was leaving," she said.
Peake met up with co-worker Robb Hanrahan, a news anchor also trying to get into the city. After several failed attempts to pass the police barricading the streets, the news team received a stroke of luck.
"We finally get to a Carvel Ice Cream store in the Bronx -- videotaping the entire time -- and one New York City cop was getting ice cream," Peake said. "I went right up to him and said, `Look, I will not tell your supervisors about you getting ice cream on the job if you escort us in, and he did. He took us to WABC at 66th and Columbus."
Peake sprung into action, producing the live footage from ground zero.
"I have friends who witnessed things too horrible to describe. One friend, a reporter for us, we thought he was gone," Peake said. "It was the fog of war. You felt like you were in the middle of everything, and meanwhile I have a husband and two children I'm worried about."
In the center of a national catastrophe, Peake worked intensely for three weeks, producing all of the network's live 9/11 footage continuously, without commercials.
"We were sick to our stomach, heart broken. It affected us all, every single person, but our biggest thing was working. Working for us was the best thing to do," Peake said. "Being journalists, you just go into this high-gear mode. You don't think about it, you just do it."
The work earned Peake a George Foster Peabody for Journalism Award.
In the following weeks and months, as the nation began to breathe and heal, Peake's life and career eased back into a regular routine.
After working with several other news organizations, Peake and her family moved last November to Caroline Street in Saratoga Springs to start a new chapter of their lives.
"I've covered a lot of horrible things, but 9/11 was probably the most powerful story I've ever worked on," Peake said.
Peake and her family traveled to New York City for the 9/11 10th anniversary ceremony, for which her son played the drums. During their stay, Peake had the chance to reconnect with old friends, co-workers and reporters who endured the chaos to deliver the news.
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