It seems hard to believe, but Belva Davis has been on the air in the Bay Area for 43 years. And Davis, anchor of KQED 9’s “This Week in Northern California,” has chronicled her career in a new book, “Beyond My Wildest Dreams.” Lisa Vorderbrueggen of the Contra Costa Times has profiled Davis’ career in this piece.

Davis’ big television break came in 1966 when KPIX hired her from a field of 67 applicants and she became the first black female television news reporter on the West Coast.

She could write well. She could speak confidently.

She knew little about television, but few did. It was a fledgling industry.

“I didn’t even know what ‘stand-up’ meant,” said Davis, referring to the term for conducting an on-air interview at the site of a news event. “Fortunately, I was assigned to work with a crazy Hungarian cameraman who put his arm around me the first time we went out and said, ‘Don’t worry about a thing, baby,’ ” Davis said.

(Photo credit: Dan Honda, Contra Costa Times)