Maurice Wolfe "Reese" Schonfeld (November 5, 1931July 28, 2020) was an American television journalist and executive. Trained as a lawyer, he co-founded CNN with Ted Turner in 1980, and went on to establish Food Network in 1993.
Early life and education
Schonfeld was born in Newark, New Jersey, on November 5, 1931. His father, Philip, worked as a partner in a glass-and-mirror company; his mother, Sarah (Wolfe), was a housewife, secretary, and bookkeeper. He got the nickname "Reese" as a result of his younger sister's mispronunciation of Maurice.
Birth of CNN
Ted Turner approached Schonfeld to find out about satellites. Schonfeld recalls Turner asking him how much a satellite would cost, and upon hearing the sum Turner exclaimed "only a million dollars a year?", after which Turner acquired his first satellite. Approximately a year later he was approached again by Turner, who wanted to found a 15-hour all-news channel. Schonfeld convinced Turner to increase to a 24-hour news channel. Schonfeld calculated it could be done with a staff of approximately 300 if they used an all-electronic newsroom and satellites for all transmissions.
Post-CNN
After leaving CNN, Schonfeld joined Cablevision Systems in New York, where he developed and oversaw the first 24-hour all-news service on a local cable system, News 12 Long Island.
Schonfeld subsequently worked with Time Warner in planning the International Business Channel. He designed and implemented the Medical News Network, an interactive TV news service, for Whittle Communications in 1993. He also served on the board of Robert Halmi International before it was sold to Hallmark. O'Gorman was sister to poet Ned O'Gorman. Together they had one child— Juliette born in 1966, twelve days before the birth of his youngest child with Karen Lamberti his wife at the time. The marriage with Lamberti ended in divorce 4 years after the births of his two last children once the affair became known. Schonfeld had 5 children with Karen Lamberti between 1960 and 1966; Alexander, Ellen, Orrin, William, and Jennifer Ida.
Schonfeld died on July 28, 2020, at his home in Manhattan. He was 88 and had suffered from complications of Alzheimer's disease.
Bibliography
- Me and Ted Against the World: The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN , Harper Collins, 2001, ,
- Developing Cultures, Essays on Cultural Change, Routledge, 2006, ,
- "Shadow of a gunman", Columbia Journalism Review, 1975. (available to read here)
References
Notes
General
- Biography, The Huffington Post
- Kevin Downey, Reese Schonfeld on the rise and fall of CNN, Media Life Magazine, March 19, 2001