Media picking up story of Mark McEwen’s return to CBS

Mark McEwen on CBS' Early Show

Mark McEwen on CBS' Early Show in 2006 (courtesy CBSNews.com)

As we mentioned earlier this week, former WKMG-Local 6 anchor Mark McEwen returns to television this Saturday when he fills-in as the weatherman on CBS’ Saturday Early Show.

Now, media outlets around the country are picking up the feel-good story — noting McEwen’s miraculous recovery from his massive stroke nearly five years ago. …

  • “Mark McEwen is a survivor, who has beat all odds and is returning to his true passion — reporting,” CBS News reports.
  • “Mark McEwen will return to ‘The Early Show’ on Saturday. But it’s more than a homecoming — it will be McEwen’s first nationally televised weather forecast since suffering a devastating and debilitating stroke in 2005,” the New York Post reports.
  • “Mark McEwen returning to visit ‘The Early Show,’ ” The Associated Press reports.
  • “Weatherman Mark McEwen will return to CBS News and The Early Show Saturday for the first time since recovering from a near-fatal stroke,” Broadcasting & Cable reports.
  • “Mark McEwen, who worked for CBS from 1987 to 2002, will appear in his first nationally televised weather forecast — and he’ll sit down for an interview — since recovering from a near-fatal stroke in 2005,”  USA Today reports.

By the way, this won’t be his first appearance on the CBS morning program since his stroke. He returned in 2006 to discuss it and his recovery.

Mark McEwen returning to network TV

Mark McEwenGood news for former WKMG-Local 6 anchor Mark McEwen. He’s returning to network TV.

However, it’s just for a day — next Saturday when he presents the weather on CBS’ Saturday Early Show.

“It’s very heartening to be back on TV,” McEwen told Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker. “I want to show people you can overcome a stroke or anything. I got in touch with them [CBS] about by doing entertainment pieces. They came back and said, ‘How about the weather?’ I said OK. It’s a one-day fill-in.”

As you likely know, McEwen suffered a massive stroke in 2005, just a couple of months after he was named the new morning anchor for Local 6.

Since then has come lots of therapy, public appearances to raise awareness about strokes and a book he wrote about his experience, “After the Stroke: My Journey Back to Life.” He even has a website to promote the publication.

McEwen told Boedeker that while he’s “doing fine,” “I’m still kind of dealing with the aftermath of a massive stroke.”

Read more with McEwen here.