© 2025 WGCU News
PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Local Philanthropist/Ground-Breaking Journalist Leaves Lasting Legacy

Friends and admirers of Antoinette “Toni” Stabile are invited to remember her with a donation to a charity of their choice. 

Stabile, who died earlier this month, was a ground-breaking journalist whose investigative reporting on the skin-care industry attracted world-wide attention. Stabile spent a good deal of time in Naples where she generously supported the arts community, including the Philharmonic Center for the Arts

Her commitment to stellar journalism, to quality arts and culture and the belief that education is for all are all really commendable values in a life,” said CEO and President Kathleen Van Bergen.  “She has made a tremendous impact and we will feel her generosity for generations, it’s a really spectacular legacy.”

The Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University is named for Toni Stabile.  Her philanthropy preserved nationwide Saturday afternoon broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera.  Other benefactors include Avow Hospice and the Toni Stabile College of Nursing at Edison College.  Toni Stabile was 93.

Tags
Valerie Alker hosts All Things Considered. She has been a Reporter/Producer and program host at WGCU since 1991. She reports on general news topics in Southwest Florida and has also produced documentaries for WGCU-TV’s former monthly environmental documentary programs In Focus on the Environment and Earth Edition. Valerie also helps supervise WGCU news interns and contributes to NPR programs.