There’s a lot more to compare and contrast about these two than the fact that they’re both named Barbara.

Barbara Frum (1937 – 1992) and Barbara Walters (1929 -) had very little in common during their journalism careers. It’s the lives they led that share the most striking commonalities.

Frum and Walters were contemporaries in television broadcasting: Frum for a Canadian audience and Walters for a mostly American one. Each of them was from the north-eastern part of North America, and each of them remained in that part of the world for most of their working lives. Frum was a Canadian with American citizenship and patriotism, while Walters was, and always will be, a proud American.

Frum and Walters were both raised upper-class and Jewish, but never practiced their religion devoutly and worked hard to earn what they did. Frum had a devoted family life. Walters struggled somewhat with her roles as mother, sister and daughter. Each chose to adopt a child after attempts to add to her family by bearing the child with her husband. Each woman bore a great sadness about a particular member of her family: Walters for her mentally-challenged sister, and Frum for her rebellious adopted son.

While each woman has experience in each of the three mainstream media (print, radio and television), they each fell into their roles as tv news anchors and hosts, and had to fight to keep those roles once they got them. They were each about 40 years old when they got their flagship posts on tv.

Each of Frum and Walters claimed to have hated interviewing celebrities at first, and went on to interview many famous people, including celebrities. Each was a gifted interviewer.

From one reading of one book about each, it seems to me neither woman was particularly likable unless you were in her private circle.  This circle would include their mother, to whom each woman was very close. Meanwhile, each of them seemed to have socialized frequently with newsmakers of the time.

Barbara Frum died relatively young, at the age of 54. Barbara Walters continues to have a lively career into and beyond her 80th year.