Elizabeth Brackett, Longtime 'Chicago Tonight' TV Host, Dies

CHICAGO, IL — Retired award-winning TV journalist Elizabeth Brackett died Sunday, days after the longtime WTTW-TV reporter and former "Chicago Tonight" host had been in an apparent bicycle accident, according to the station. Bracket, 76, suffered at least one broken vertebra in her neck and had been in a coma at Stroger Hospital since being found Wednesday, June 13, on a lakefront path on the South Side, the station said.

Authorities aren't sure exactly how Brackett was hurt, but her family told WTTW that they believe she fell while riding her bike on a path near 39th Street Beach. Brackett, who had competed in triathlons since she was 50, didn't have any signs of trauma when she was treated at the scene, and the damage to her helmet seemed to indicate a bicycle fall, the station said.

"All of us at WTTW are devastated by the news of Elizabeth’s death," “Chicago Tonight” executive producer Mary Field told the Chicago Sun-Times, adding that Brackett passed away peacefully. "She is a friend and beloved colleague, and her loss will be felt not only here but in Chicago’s journalism community, of which she was a highly respected member, and among her many friends and competitors in the athletic world."

RELATED: Retired Chicago TV Reporter In Coma After Bike Crash

Brackett built a respected 40-year career as a Chicago broadcaster — 20 of those years as the host and a correspondent for "Chicago Tonight" — covering a variety of topics, including politics, sports and business. Her work earned her five Emmy Awards, two Peter Lisagor Awards for Business Journalism and a National Peabody Award. She was inducted into the Chicago Television Academy’s Silver Circle in 2009, the same year her book, “Pay to Play: How Rod Blagojevich Turned Political Corruption into a National Sideshow," was published.

Before joining WTTW, Brackett started her TV career at WBBM-TV in 1977 and worked at WGN-TV and WLS-TV, as well. She was the Midwest contributor for "PBS NewsHour" (then called "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour") from 1984 to 2011 and co-hosted "Chicago Tomorrow," WTTW's weekly science show, from 2000 to 2001.

“Elizabeth Brackett was an institution in Chicago journalism, because her reporting informed, educated and enlightened generations of Chicagoans," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. "While Elizabeth rightfully received nearly every journalism award under the sun, anyone who knew her knew her passions stretched beyond the bounds of her career and that her greatest treasures were her beloved children. I will deeply miss our conversations about family, politics and triathlons.”

Along with her work as a journalist, Brackett also was a champion triathlete who competed around the world. Earlier this year, she won an international title in her age group, the latest of five such awards she had earned.

“I believe that she left a lot in everybody that knew her. We carry a piece of her,” Well-Fit Triathlon & Training owner and founder Sharone Aharon, Brackett's close friend and coach since 2006, told WTTW. “She wasn’t afraid to do what needs to be done. She was extremely curious, loving life and a fierce competitor.”

Brackett graduated New Trier High School in Winnetka and received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University. She also was the only woman who competed on IU's diving team at the time, the station said.

Brackett is survived by her husband, Peter Martinez; her daughter, Ilsa Wallich; her son, Jon Brackett; her stepchildren Lisa Nuzzo, Stephanie Martinez, Jonathan Martinez, Matthew Martinez; and her sisters; Ellen Rieger and Jill Swisher. Funeral arrangements are pending.

More via WTTW-TV

Elizabeth Brackett in 2012 (Screen shot from video via Elizabeth Brackett | YouTube)