Syler: A Move To The Big Apple

Talk about an anchorwoman on the move.

Rene´ Syler had just a few days to pack up a decade's worth of Dallas memories when she moved to New York earlier this month. She cleared her desk of items that include a sample-size CK perfume bottle and a package of Tums.

When the packing was done, Syler stood surrounded by her colleagues — holding back tears and talking about how much the Dallas newsroom means to her.

"We had a lot of laughter, we had a lot of fights," says Syler. "It wasn't just that we bonded over the job, but we bonded over life. You know, we shared meals together. I'm going to miss 'em."

Just three weeks ago, Syler, who was working on local broadcasts at CBS' affiliate KTVT in Fort Worth, got the news that she was hired to host The Early Show.

"I couldn't believe it," she says. "I kept thinking, 'You did mean to talk to Rene´ Syler, right? You did mean to dial this number?' But I was thrilled. I was thrilled they thought I was ready to step up to the plate and try to hit a home run."

Speaking of running, Syler was quite at home on a track during high school in Sacramento, Calif. And, according to her sister Tracy, Syler always had an impeccable sense of style.

"In the '70s, when she had this Afro and these pencil-thin eyebrows, that was very popular," says Tracy, Syler's sister. "She's always been a fashion trend-, uh, fashion watcher - I guess I should say."

But it wasn't until college that Syler fashioned herself as a newsperson. It took an only one internship to get Syler hooked on the adrenaline rush of television news.

Syler's first stand-up, as a college intern, was about auto safety. Later, she made a resume tape.

"Made some phone calls, and said, 'Hey, I'm gonna be in Reno next week and wanted to know if I could drop a tape off,'" she recalls. "Well, you know why I was gonna be in Reno? Because I was driving up to Reno."

Working her way from Nevada to Alabama to Texas, Syler has covered events as devastating as a tornado's aftermath and stories as whimsical as a groundhog's funeral.

Every year, Syler hosts the city's main breast cancer fund-raiser, the annual Komen Dallas "Race for the Cure." Participants couldn't let Syler leave without showing their gratitude.

For Syler, the fight against breast cancer hits very close to home. Her mother, Anne, was diagnosed with the disease five years ago.

"When I had the cancer, it was funny, we did a mother-daughter reversal," says Anne. "She was the mother and I was the daughter. And I understand, you can see the love. I know I'm very loved."

Syler is very loved as well, especially by her husband Buff. He hopes America sees what he sees in his wife.

"She has an amazing sincerity," says Buff. "There won't be a whole lot of hidden agendas. There won't be a whole lot of pretensions. What you see is what you get."

Syler could have done the safe thing and stayed in Dallas. For television, she had the closest thing to job security and she had the respect and admiration of her co-workers and local viewers.

"When it's all said and done, the fun part about life is taking risks and swinging for the fences, and, and really feeling alive," says Syler. "It's working without a net that makes me so invigorated."

Now that the going-away parties are over and Syler has said goodbye to Dallas, her mom and her sister have something to say to Syler.

"I'm going to miss you very much," says Anne. "I've been used to seeing you a lot more than I'm going to see you in New York, I know."

"You are my best friend," says Tracy. "And I love you for everything you've done for me and I will always be here for you."

So bet that Syler's phone bills in the Big Apple will be pretty high.