Nick Young’s star unveiled on Walk of Fame

PRINCETON — The third star on Princeton’s Walk of Fame was unveiled Monday evening outside the Apollo Theater.

Award-winning broadcast journalist Nick Young has earned a spot next to soap opera actress Kathryn Hays and silver screen star Richard Widmark.

Young was surrounded by a small gathering of close friends and family during Monday’s recognition ceremony in the downtown, which included remarks by Princeton Mayor Joel Quiram before Young shared highlights from his career and talked about how he got his start in radio working for WZOE.

On his star, it reads, “Nick was born and raised in Princeton, the son of James and Elizabeth Yeazel. He graduated from Princeton High School in 1967. Nick’s fifty-plus year radio career began at WZOE Radio, in Princeton. Professionally known as ‘Nick Young,’ he worked in local and network radio, culminating as the anchor of the CBS World News Roundup, the longest-running network radio newscast in the United States.

As an award-winning journalist, Nick covered Pope John Paul II, the Challenger disaster, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Mike Tyson and O.J. Simpson trials, Mother Teresa’s funeral, the 9-11 attacks, the Iraq War and the COVID-19 pandemic. He reported from the White House, the Supreme Court and traveled with President Bill Clinton.

After retiring from CBS News in 2010, Nick returned to Princeton with his wife, Deborah, where be began anchoring for Chicago’s WBBM Radio.

Nick’s career highlights also distinguish him as a published writer, artist and blues musician.”

Following Monday’s brief presentation, Young said receiving a star on the Walk of Fame means a great deal to him.

“These are members of the community I grew up in and a community I chose to return to and so to have an honor like this means the world to me. I’m completely humbled by it,” he said.

“In a town like Princeton, there’s the ability to connect with people you often don’t have in larger cities and a way to gain a sense of who your neighbors are and what the community means and how you can work together for each other.

“We’re in a difficult time. We’re facing a pandemic. We’re facing polarization like we’ve never had in this country for a long time. When you can find ways to connect people on just a human level … differences aside, I think that means a lot. Often times, it’s fostered in a community like Princeton.”