Reggie Harris, 1953 - 2000

From WCBS-TV New York: Hearts were heavy at newsrooms around town Monday night. Reggie Harris, a reporter at UPN-9 News and former News 2 weekend anchor, died suddenly Monday afternoon at his home in Teaneck. He had been exercising at home when he suffered from a heart attack.

It was only a few hours before he was to report to work for his 3:30 p.m. shift at UPN-9. He was working out on an aerobics machine when he collapsed, said his wife, Diane. Harris had an irregular heartbeat but no other known heart disease, she said.

Reggie's tireless reporting was well known to New Yorkers. He began his career at WNBC in the early 1980s. He then worked for News 2 for nearly 10 years as an Emmy Award-winning reporter and anchor before moving on to Channel 9 in January 1997. He was the lead reporter and anchor at the Secaucus-based UPN-9 since January 1997.

WWOR-TV news director Will Wright said Harris was known for relentlessly pursuing a story up until the minute he was scheduled to deliver a nightly newscast, searching for new information or leads. "He was always breathless in his delivery. He would never let a story stand still," Wright said. "Sometimes it would drive us crazy, because we'd be up to the countdown and he'd be out digging."

Reggie was passionate about his stories and about the homeless and underprivileged. Harris was involved in a literacy program in schools throughout the New York metropolitan area, Wright said. In 1990 at News 2, he was proud to be part of the nation's first African-American co-anchor team, with Dana Tyler, in the country's top TV market, New York.

Reggie was a devoted family man. He leaves his beloved wife, Diane, their daughter Rachel, a college student, and their son Darren, a high school student. Reggie's enthusiasm and commitment to his work and this community will be dearly missed.

A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., Harris graduated from Florida State University and went on to become a reporter at KXAS, the NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, before coming to WCBS in 1987. Funeral plans have not yet been made.