Published: October 02, 2008 12:04 pm            

Stouffer considers SMHS alumnus award a prime-time honor

San Marcos — When alumni of San Marcos High School meet for reunions this Homecoming Weekend, many will be seeing their old classmates for the first time in years.

That’s with one notable exception — Headline News anchor Linda Stouffer, whose face we’ve been seeing on TV screens for the past decade.

A graduate of the class of 1988, Stouffer (remembered locally as Cinnamon), is one of seven being honored this weekend as Distinguished Alumni.

“I’m so excited and so thrilled” at being named a Distinguished Alumni, Stouffer said by phone from her Atlanta home on Wednesday. “I’m so happy and honored and pleased to hear about that and my 20th high school reunion.”

In addition to Stouffer, this year’s Distinguished Alumni include former Hays County Treasurer and political activist Dottie Payne Sims (Class of 1940); Director of the Center for Migrant Education Frank Contreras (Class of 1954); former president of Anheuser-Busch Entertainment Corporation John Roberts (Class of 1962); Central Texas Realtor and developer Randall Morris (Class of 1965); Fulbright Scholar and educator Liz Champagne Johnson (Class of 1969); and national award-winning psychologist Melba Vasquez (Class of 1969).

Stouffer, who began her career in journalism after graduating from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, has also worked at KMOL-TV in San Antonio and WSVN-TV in Miami.

She has covered stories including the Branch Davidian stand-off in Waco; the crash of the ValuJet airplane in the Florida Everglades, the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and the disputed 2000 presidential election.

“There’s no better place to learn, everything from Saddam Hussein being found to the start of the current war to the start of the war in Afghanistan,” Stouffer said of her stint at CNN Headline News.

“It’s exciting and humbling to be on the anchor desk when things like that happen.”

Though she’s come a long way from her small-town roots (parents Bill and Sandy Stouffer still live here), she said she’s feeling the same excitement as anyone about the coming weekend’s events.

“It’s been so much fun getting ready for this reunion. There’s a Web site where people are uploading bios and family pictures. It’s just such a rush to see who became a pastor, who’s a stay-at-home mom. (SMHS alumni) have spread out all over the country.”

Stouffer is married to CBS newsman Mark Strassmann. The couple have a 12-year-old daughter and five-year-old son. Stouffer is the 1 to 5:30 p.m. Headline News anchor weekends and as a fill-in anchor during the week.

        

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