Al Mann, a renowned journalist, began his illustrious career in broadcasting while still in high school in Wichita Falls, Texas. He honed his skills by reporting on high school events for the local paper and participating in on-air activities at KWFT-AM Wichita Falls. At the tender age of 14, Mann took a semester off from school to serve as a page in the Senate of the 47th Texas State Legislature.
After graduating from high school in 1943, Mann enlisted in the U.S. Navy in June 1944. He was aboard ship in port near the USS Missouri when the documents ending World War II were signed. Notably, Mann's service to his country did not end with World War II. He was recalled during the Korean Conflict, earning him the distinction of being a combat veteran of both wars.
Following the Korean Conflict, Mann returned to Texas and joined WFAA-TV Dallas, which led to opportunities with ABC News in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. As a correspondent, he covered the pivotal civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Mann's network anchoring duties included stints on the ABC Afternoon Report and the ABC Evening Report, where he co-anchored with esteemed colleagues Bill Lawrence and John Cameron Swayze. After serving as an anchorman at CBS-owned KNXT-TV Los Angeles in the 1960s, Mann assumed the role of news director at CBS-owned KMOX-TV St. Louis. This position preceded his news director roles at WBBM-TV Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Greensboro-Winston Salem, N.C.
Mann concluded his remarkable career as a public relations spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, retiring in 1995.
