Q. What Chattanooga TV personality faced a battle with oral cancer in the 1970s?
A. In the early 1970s, Marcia Kling appeared to be living the American dream.
A wife and mother of two, Kling was also director of children’s programming for WTVC News Channel 9, where she developed and hosted the program “Funtime,” which had become a morning staple for preschoolers in Chattanooga and made “Miss Marcia” a household name in the area.
Life was good, but late one afternoon, her outlook turned dark. Kling’s doctor called with bad news. Biopsy results had come back. She had a tumor — oral cancer — and the only possible cure was surgery, and there were no guarantees. There was a chance Kling, a soprano soloist at Second Presbyterian Church, would never talk or sing again. There was also a chance she would die.
Suddenly, Kling’s life had gone from dream to nightmare, but the latter wouldn’t have staying power.