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KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Jan Yanehiro: Television journalist, author – ‘There is still a lot more to come from me’

BAY AREA – Whether it was this interviewer watching her travel the world on television, being inspired by her novel or just sharing a piece of cheesecake after lunch, it is impossible not to notice there is just something very special about Jan Yanehiro.

From the daughter of a taxi driver and baker in Hawaii to becoming a well-known journalist and writer, Ms. Yanehiro has lived about a million lives in one. And if you had to describe those lives in one word, it would be fearless.

“A woman’s worst enemy is her own self doubt,” she said. “Don’t fear your own intuition. Follow your passion, take risks and even if you fail along the way, don’t worry what other people think – just move forward.”

Ms. Yanehiro was born in Hawaii, a third- generation Japanese American. She said television was the last place she ever thought she would end up, but she always knew she was destined for great things. And like many with a dream, she was off to California. Though Ms. Yanehiro had never left the island, just after high school she hopped on a plane across the ocean to go to college.

“My dad had told me, ‘Go to college and become a teacher.’ That was pretty much the most women were expected to do in those days,” she said. “There wasn’t anyone there saying, ‘Jan, think out of the box.’ But I can’t explain it, I just knew there was more I needed and more I could do.”

She went to California State University in Fresno with little more than a suitcase, but she hit the ground running, becoming a student columnist for the city newspaper.

“When I stepped off that plane in California there was such a great deal of fear and excitement. But I just looked at myself and said, ‘OK, I am gonna make this happen.’”

After graduating in 1970, she worked as a journalist, doing mostly news radio, until she auditioned for what would become one of the most important developments in of her life. The concept for the television’s first magazine-format television show was born out of a CBS affiliate in San Francisco in 1975, and it needed a star to host. More than 220 applied and auditioned, but it was no contest. Jan Yanehiro became the co-host of “Evening Magazine,” which she would do for the next 14 years.

“We had so many amazing, funny times on that show. I had a python wrapped around my neck, I went bungee jumping, I saw the first rock show in Russia and I had a rabbit pee on me on television,” she said. “It was one the most incredible experiences of my life. You really have to appreciate the rare inside view you get, and you cannot abuse it.”

But then tragedy struck, which ultimately became the inspiration for her life – overcoming obstacles. Now with three children, her husband was diagnosed with brain cancer and died less than a year later, leaving behind a family close to financial ruin.

“When my husband was diagnosed, I just thought, ‘This can’t be real. This isn’t right.’ And we suffered six long months of uncertainty and chaos,” she said. “But through the companionship of a friend, I found it is what we do with these experiences that shapes us. That’s how you get back. You have to see the sense of humor in life, the light at the end of the tunnel. And if the tunnel is too long, use a flashlight.”

In the next chapter of Jan’s life, she decided to help publish a book that was more than 10 years in the making. She and lifelong friend Jackie Speier, in collaboration with co-authors Michealene Cristini Risley and Deborah Collins Stephens, wrote “This is not the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down.”

It talks of the surprises and tribulations of life and on being a woman. It is a book of “kitchen table conversations” from the mundane to the bizarre. “It’s a book for busy women. They are short stories meant for women to be able to pick up and put down,” she said.

Today is also a new chapter for the Bank of Marin board member and partner of the Fair Advantage nonprofit. With all six children and stepchildren on their own and more than 35,000 books sold, she said she feels a renewed sense of independence and resilience for taking chances. “I like to think that my favorite stories have yet to come,” she said.

She is currently working on several television projects with her media and marketing planning company Jan Yanehiro Inc. and has a re-release of her book in the works.

“There is still a lot more to come from me.”

Over the years, Ms. Yanehiro has been recognized by her peers for accomplishments in several arenas, winning an Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award from the United Nations, induction into the Academy of Television and Radio Hall of Fame, outstanding alumnus and many others.

She has hosted several other television programs, including “Appraise It!” on the Home and Gardening Channel and “Forced Out,” a documentary on the Japanese American experience during World War II. She is an executive producer and correspondent on “Pacific Fusion,” a San Francisco and Hawaii television magazine program on Asian Pacific people, trends, food and fashion.

In the community, she is a member of the boards of the Kristi Yamaguchi Always Dream Foundation, Center for the Pacific Rim at the University of San Francisco and the National Board of Visitors at California State University, Fresno. She is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.