Peggy Charren

The co-founder and longtime president of Action for Children’s Television died today at 86. TVN contributor Arthur Greenwald writes: “Even though we live in an age of hype, it’s impossible to overestimate the influence of Peggy Charren in raising the quality and quantity of children’s media. She pushed a marginal sector of the video biz to center stage at the networks and in Washington. She befriended and praised hundreds of fledgling producers and projects. Peggy was smart, funny, persuasive and generally a force of nature. Plus, she was Estelle Parsons’ roommate back in Connecticut College — a tidbit that should not be lost to history.”