Florence “Flo” Anthony, a pioneering entertainment journalist, author, and TV and radio personality, dies at 74 after a battle with cancer. Her death is confirmed by Jack Hirsch, biographer of her husband, Olympic and professional boxing champion Michael Spinks, to Anthony’s longtime publication, the New York Amsterdam News, and to other outlets.
Anthony is widely described as a trailblazer for women of color in entertainment reporting. Both sources highlight her breaking of barriers at the New York Post, including being the first Black woman to work in the paper’s entertainment and Page Six departments. Variety frames her role as “pioneering” in that beat, while Deadline emphasizes her broader impact as a journalist and media personality.
The outlets align on the core details—her age, cause of death, and Hirsch as the confirming source—while focusing their attention differently: one centers on her Page Six and New York Post “firsts,” and the other emphasizes her overall career spanning journalism, authorship, and on-air work.
