{{short description|American general assignment reporter (born 1958)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox person | image = Lisa Evers - Outside Nicolás Maduro's arraignment in NYC 71 (cropped).jpg | caption = Evers in 2026, during the arraignment of Nicolás Maduro | name = Lisa Evers | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|06|15}} | birth_name = Lisa Evers | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = {{marriage|Curtis Sliwa|1981|1995|end=div}} | occupation = {{hlist|Journalist|radio personality}} | education = Lake Forest College (BA) }} '''Lisa Evers''' (formerly '''Lisa Sliwa''') (born June 15, 1953) is an American general assignment reporter for FOX 5 News, host of the ''Street Soldiers with Lisa Evers'' television and radio show in New York City, a former high-ranking Guardian Angel, and a long-time community volunteer for urban, youth and children's charities.
==Early life and education== Evers grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois.<ref name="Red"/>
In 1978, Evers began attending Lake Forest College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with a minor in 17th-century French literature.<ref name="Red"/>
==Career== ===Modeling=== Evers was discovered by a fashion photographer who saw her on the subway and took some test shots, which led her to a modeling contract with Elite Model Management in the 1980s. With Elite, she worked in New York and Paris, and appeared in a variety of magazines around the world, including French editions of ''Elle'' and ''Vogue'', as well as magazines in Australia, India, and the UK.<ref>Elite Model Management Books, ''New York Daily News''</ref>
===Guardian Angels=== Evers was once vice-president of the Guardian Angels, a volunteer crime-fighting organization.<ref name="Haskins1983">{{cite book|last=Haskins|first=James|title=The Guardian Angels|year=1983|publisher=Enslow Publishers|location=New York|isbn=978-0-89490-081-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/guardianangels00hask/page/35 35–37]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/guardianangels00hask/page/35}}</ref> At that time she was married to its founder, Curtis Sliwa; was known as '''Lisa Sliwa'''; and worked as a model with Elite Model Management in New York City and Paris.<ref name="nym">{{cite journal|title=Guardian Angel Goes to the Mat|number=15|volume=19|date=April 14, 1986|journal=New York Magazine|page=18|issn=0028-7369}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-08-14/features/8602180263_1_curtis-sliwa-crime-victims-lisa-sliwa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615234347/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-08-14/features/8602180263_1_curtis-sliwa-crime-victims-lisa-sliwa|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 15, 2015|title=Lisa Sliwa: Fashionable Crime Fighter|date=August 14, 1986|first=LISA |last=ANDERSON|newspaper= Chicago Tribune}}</ref> With Sliwa, she co-hosted a talk radio show on WABC-AM in New York City that ended shortly before their divorce.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Alison Morley|title=Killer Girls|journal = Elle|volume=19|year=1994|publisher=Elle Publishing Company|page=234|number=9}}</ref>
In 1983, Evers was beaten up by three men, in their 20's and 30's, in her Manhattan office. According to her then-husband, the men pinned her arms and punched her in the stomach. They also attempted to rape her, but were unsuccessful, fleeing after she punched one in the groin.<ref name="Three">{{cite news|title=Guardian Angels leader Lisa Sliwa was beaten by three...|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/03/15/Guardian-Angels-leader-Lisa-Sliwa-was-beaten-by-three/5515416552400/|work=UPI|date=15 March 1983}}</ref>
As a Guardian Angel, Evers was also arrested during her patrols, and once was charged for disturbing the peace and obstructing justice, after refusing to obey a police officer's commands to leave a subway car.<ref name="Three"/>
===Martial Arts and Wrestling=== Evers holds a black belt in karate and has been featured in self-defense videos for women. In 1987, she was the first woman to be inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame as "Woman of the Year". Additionally, she authored several monthly columns in ''Black Belt'' magazine between 1986 and 1994.<ref>{{cite book|title= The Martial Arts Companion: Culture, History, and Enlightenment |first=John |last=Corcoran |publisher =Bdd Promotional Book Co|year= 1992 |page=96|ISBN = 978-0-7924-5762-6 }}</ref>
In the 1980s, Evers briefly attempted to become a professional wrestler and joined the World Wrestling Federation. She appeared on ''Tuesday Night Titans'' in 1985 and demonstrated several self-defense holds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ioffer.com/i/wwf-tuesday-night-titans-1985-complete-season-wwe-150880803|title=WWF Tuesday Night Titans 1985 (Complete Season)|publisher=iOffer|accessdate=December 24, 2010}}</ref>
Evers once trained with The Fabulous Moolah.<ref name="Red"/>
===Journalism=== [[File:1.19.12UnionCityFireLisaEversByLuigiNovi1.jpg|thumb|Evers reporting on a January 2012 fire in Union City, New Jersey.]]
In 2016, the long-running HOT 97 show ''Street Soldiers with Lisa Evers'' was turned into a weekly TV show on FOX 5 in New York, airing Friday nights at 10:30 pm. Her list of exclusive one-on-one interviews with big-name hip hop celebrities continues to grow, from 50 Cent's first television interview (FOX 5 News, 2003) to Diddy, Jay-Z, DMX, Fetty Wap, and many more.<ref name=bio/>
She began at WINS as a freelance reporter, and she also worked for CNN Radio Network and the ABC Radio Network.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.fox5ny.com/inside-fox-5/fox-5-personalities/1441700-story|title=Lisa Evers}}</ref>
==Personal life== Evers married her former husband, Curtis Sliwa, on Christmas Eve 1981.<ref name="Red">{{cite news|last=Geist|first=William G.|title=ABOUT NEW YORK; COVERING THE GAMUT, FROM MODELING TO MUGGERS|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/25/nyregion/about-new-york-covering-the-gamut-from-modeling-to-muggers.html|work=New York Times|date=25 June 1986}}</ref> They later divorced.
===Charitable work=== With the support of FOX 5 and HOT 97, Evers led a drive that brought a truckload of new clothes, sneakers, and toys to survivors of Hurricane Katrina. More recently, along with the Hip Hop Has Heart Foundation, she helped organize a major relief effort in the Rockaways, following Super Storm Sandy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/malcolm-smith/senator-malcolm-smith-uft-hot-97-join-forces-hurricane-relief|title=Senator Malcolm A. Smith, Uft, Hot 97 Join Forces for Hurricane Relief|author=Malcolm A. Smith|date=November 9, 2012}}</ref>
==Published works== '''Bibliography'''
* ''Attitude'', Crown Publishers. (1980's)<ref name="Attitude">{{cite news|title=TWO-FISTED ANGEL |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/07/30/two-fisted-angel-2/|work=Chicago Tribune|date=30 July 1986}}</ref>
'''Videography'''
* ''Lisa Sliwa's Common-Sense Defense'' (1980's)<ref name="Attitude"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb name|id=2412668|name=Lisa Evers}} * [http://www.fox5ny.com/inside-fox-5/fox-5-personalities/1441700-story Fox 5 Bio] {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evers, Lisa}} Category:1958 births Category:21st-century American women Category:20th-century female professional wrestlers Category:20th-century American professional wrestlers Category:American television journalists Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American female karateka Category:American female professional wrestlers Category:Professional wrestlers from Illinois Category:American women television journalists Category:20th-century American sportswomen Category:Curtis Sliwa