Houston TV news anchor grew up in Charleroi

As Columbia came crashing down skies last month, television anchor Gai-Linn Tatrai sat glued to her newsdesk at News 24 Houston. "We went on the air and had nonstop live coverage for 48 hours."

Space shuttle Columbia was a news story heard around the world. For the people of Houston, "It was a local story, our viewers actually knew the astronauts who lived and worked here. Columbia was a touching story that impacted everyone, the story of the decade," Tatrai said. For her as a television news anchor, "it was the biggest story I have ever covered."

Though Tatrai now lives and works in Houston, her roots are in Charleroi. Born in 1969 to Lou and Gai-Linn Tatrai, "my mother and I share the same name," her parents still reside at Rodgers Manor in Fallowfield Township.

Tatrai recalled another young girl growing up in Rodgers Manor. Her family name was Guynes and, "They were only in the neighborhood a short time." Today, that young girl is recognized as movie star Demi Moore. "I didn't know her personally but I do remember seeing her out in the yard."

Over her school years, Tatrai recalled many favorite teachers who always encouraged her to be the best she could be. She graduated from Charleroi School District, where she was a cheerleader, with the Class of 1987.

As a youngster, television held a special fascination for Tatrai. "I used to watch Patti Burns do the news." Then one summer Tatrai interned at WPXI-TV. She met main anchor Edie Tarbox, who is now Edie Hill of Fox and Friends in New York, with a morning news show. "I was just out of high school and I thought what Edie did was really neat. I was so impressed I would just sit in and watch her. It was amazing."

Now as a news anchor, Tatrai comes into Houston homes every day via television. "People are starting to recognize me. It's a good sign to know people are watching our news when they have so many stations to choose from," she said.

E-mails are becoming more frequent, people write letters as if they know her personally -- one man asked for a date, another sent his picture, and some individuals stop her to ask for an autograph. "It's funny, people are so star-struck but I'm a normal person like everybody else.

"Women want to know what kind of makeup I wear, where I buy my clothes. I get a lot of questions that have nothing to do with the news. It's flattering but it can get a little uncomfortable at times," she said. "I'm just a normal girl from Charleroi."

The road to success began at age 19. While most college students worked in the service industry to make ends meet, Tatrai opted to take a job behind the scenes at the NBC affiliate in Syracuse. At graduation, she picked up a bachelor's degree in political science from Syracuse University.

Afterward, Tatrai landed a job as reporter/anchor at a Lima, Ohio, television station. Then it was on to several years doing the same at a Johnstown, Cambria County station.

"I've covered a lot of local stories in the Johnstown-Altoona area," she said. Tatrai recalled covering the trial of a husband who had murdered his wife. "The dead woman's brother was there to speak as her voice. This was a human being, though I never met her, I remember her name and the picture of her face is fresh in my mind. I was touched with the brother's passion, fighting for her."

Tatrai recalled another story of a man in Altoona who was afraid to come out of his house because someone had put a voodoo doll with his likeness on his car. Days later, when police were finally able to coax the man out, he cried, he was so afraid. With stories like these, "you get into people's lives for a moment," she said.

When Tatrai left the Johnstown station, Binghamton, N.Y., beckoned with a weekday anchor position. Then she moved to weeknight co-anchor for an Evansville, Ind., television station.

A bigger promotion took her to an ABC affiliate in Indianapolis where she served as weekend anchor and reporter. Tatrai's newscasts were seen at a prison where an inmate found her fascinating. "This inmate began writing to me." Officials notified Tatrai when the inmate was released. "They sent a mugshot of the individual so I would be aware and careful of this person. Tatrai added, "He never bothered me but I am aware of my surroundings at all times.''

Between the different television positions and varied experiences, the busy woman earned a broker's license while working as a financial consultant at Salomon Smith Barney, and also received her life and health insurance license.

After anchoring off and on for more than 12 years, Tatrai decided to get back into television. "That's what I really like. It's in my blood." When NEWS 24 Houston signed on the air Dec. 12, Tatrai became one of the anchors with news 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "We're headline news for the Houston community."

A somewhat hectic schedule finds her with daytime anchor duties from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The television station was formed as a joint venture of Time-Warner and Belo.

Tatrai admitted, "The job is stressful but there's an adrenaline rush sitting in the anchor chair doing live reports."

Producers work with her, speaking into a microphone in her ear., "They're talking to me all the time. Go to the next story, this shot is not going to work. Or we have breaking news." Tatrai calls it exciting and thrilling. "You really have to be able to focus. You're live on the air, you must watch what you say and watch your grammar. We do a lot of ad-libbing, going with the flow."

Tatrai is one of five anchors. There are 14 reporters, four weather persons, and three sports reporters.

Since the anchor job requires a lot of sitting, "I'm tied to the computer," Tatrai finds running and golfing relaxing. "I get out and run to relax. I ran a 5K here recently. I did a marathon in Indianapolis."

Tatrai is a member of the Houston Syracuse University Alumni Club and The Greater Houston Delta Gamma alumnae group. She is a certified adult literacy tutor and has volunteered for Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Tatrai has two real-life sisters of her own, one in Pittsburgh and one in Florida. Her mother Gai-Linn Tatrai works as a speech/hearing therapist with Intermediate Unit One. Her dad works in the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Mill at Allenport. An uncle, her mother's brother, is Peter Daley, a state representative from California, Pa. When she worked in Pennsylvania television, many lawmakers often approached her uncle to ask, "Is that your niece I saw on television?" She has also reached a wider audience. "I've been on CNN a few times, when stories on the local market had national significance."

The unusual first name she shares with her mother was "kind of made-up." Because of the hyphen, many people here in Houston think I'm of Asian decent." She said Tatrai is a Hungarian name. "Ethnicity is one thing I miss here. I miss that Pittsburgh ethnic."

Though Tatrai does not get home as often as she would like, "only about once a year," her parents love to see her so happy in her job. "They're really proud of me."

Tatrai's mother agreed. "She worked very hard. During summers, while many college students were having fun, she worked behind the scenes at an NBC affiliate in Syracuse." After looking into different career options, "one day Gai-Linn called to say, 'I think I know what I want to do.' She knew it wouldn't be easy."

Her mother added, "We are very proud and happy for her because she is living her dream."