Condolences: Celebrity Journalist Flo Anthony Dies At 74 After Breaking Barriers For Black Entertainment Reporters

Florence “Flo” Anthony, the pioneering entertainment journalist and longtime voice in Black media, has passed away at 74 following a battle with cancer. From breaking barriers as one of the first Black celebrity columnists at major publications to championing Black entertainment through print and television, her impact on journalism will be remembered for generations.

via: The Jasmine Brand

Anthony passed away on August 6, according to Jack Hirsch, biographer for her husband, former heavyweight champion Michael Spinks. The couple had been together since 1987.

The Howard University graduate began writing for the Philadelphia Sun before becoming the first African-American reporter in the New York Post’s Page Six department. She later became the first African-American celebrity columnist for The National Examiner.

Her syndicated “Go With the Flo” column appeared in the New York Amsterdam News for more than two decades and was published by several other outlets. Anthony later worked with the New York Daily News and led Black Noir and Black Elegance magazines.

Before journalism, she handled publicity for boxing legends Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and Spinks. She later became a familiar television commentator and hosted “Gossip To Go With Flo” and “Flo Anthony’s Big Apple Buzz.”

Anthony published four novels, including “Keeping Secrets, Telling Lies” and “Last Call for a Deadly Diva.” We send our condolences to her family and friends.

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This is sad to hear because I actually knew Flo, and like Wendy Williams and Howard Stern she inspired me to get into media.

What many people don’t know is that back when I was in high school I was supposed to interview Flo for a talk show pilot I was working on that never materialized. I met her through my high school teacher, who also moonlighted as actress Copper Cunningham.

She used to do Geraldo’s show a lot, and that was how I got to go on his talk show and meet him.

Yes, mutha has lived!