True Stories From A Living Legend: CBS’s Bob Schieffer

Bill Thompson

From the JFK assassination to Vietnam to the Nixon White House, longtime CBS TV correspondent Bob Schieffer has covered it all.

During a broadcast career that has now spanned six decades Schieffer has helped write the book on modern electronic journalism.

Bob Schieffer started his career in his native Texas as a newspaper reporter – that’s how he found himself in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

And it was his newspaper that sent him to Vietnam – at his own request.

After joining CBS in 1969 Schieffer covered Congress, the State Department, the Pentagon, and ultimately the White House, winning virtually every major journalism award along the way.

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And Sunday morning TV viewers will remember him as the moderator of “Face the Nation,” a position he held for 24 years.

Get your copy of Bob Schieffer’s book

It was during his tenure on “Face the Nation” that Schieffer wrote a journalist’s memoir, a book he called This Just In.

So here now, from 2004, Bob Schieffer.

Bob Schieffer was named a “Living Legend“ by the Library of Congress in 2008. Today at age 88 Bob Schieffer is a fellow at Harvard.

Before the Miracles: What Jesus’ Daily Life Might Have Looked Like

Bill Thompson

Most of what Christians know about Jesus comes straight from the Bible, as it should. That knowledge, however, is largely limited to the circumstances of his birth, which we celebrate at Christmas, his three-year ministry, and his death, which we Mark at Easter.

But what about all the years in between? How did people around him regard him when he was a carpenter? What was Jesus like as a child, or an adolescent?

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Former Catholic priest Joseph Girzone sought to flesh out some answers in his 1998 book called A Portrait of Jesus. Girzone was a writing veteran by this time, as author of the very popular “Joshua” series of books.

So here now, from 1998 Joseph Girzone.

Joseph Girzone died in 2015. He w3as 95.

Double Cross: The Book That Exposed Sam Giancana’s Role in U.S. History

Bill Thompson

In the 1950s and ‘60s one of the most powerful organized crime bosses in America was Chicago’s Sam Giancana.

His crime career began when he joined a youth gang, and soon became a hit man and getaway driver under Al Capone.

By th e’50s Giancana had established himself at the top. And he enjoyed the perks of wealth and notoriety, frequently seen with celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe – and Joseph Kennedy.

It’s been widely reported that Kennedy came to Giancana to ask for his help in getting his son John F. Kennedy elected president in 1960.

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But after Kennedy won, his administration went hard after the mob, and Giancana took it personally.

Get your copy of Sam Giancana’s book

All this time Sam’s little brother Chuck never got into the crime business himself. In fact he distanced himself from it. As did his son, also named Sam.

And in 1992, Sam Giancana wrote a book about his Infamous uncle (with help from his father, Chuck). He called the book Double Cross, and it was a book that brought a startling new perspective to some of the most important historical events of the late 20th century.

I met Sam Giancana when he was on a book tour. So here now, from 1992, Sam Giancana.

Mobster Sam Giancana was killed at his home in 1975 at the age of 67. The murder remains unsolved.

Erica Jong on Writing, Fame, and Feminism

Bill Thompson

If you saw the bookshelf of a typical feminist in the early 1970s you probably saw The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer – and undoubtedly Fear of Flying by Erica Jong.

That 1973 book with its edgy exploration of female sexuality propelled the poet Jong to International fame overnight and launched what would be a decade-long literary career.

Erica Jong became an icon of the 1970s and ‘80s as she established herself as a literary and media personality.

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She was also a popular and successful writing teacher, and it was that aspect of her life that eventually led to her writing a memoir in 2006.

Her book was called Seducing the Demon and the conversation that she and I had about it was one of several we shared over the years.

So come along with us now as we learn something about Erica Jong and her life, and also something about writing. Here now, from 2006, Erica John.

Erica Jong recently celebrated her 83rd birthday. Fear of Flying has sold over 37 million copies worldwide.

Watergate whistleblower Mark Felt, aka “Deep Throat,” remembered by the co-author of his autobiograqphy

Bill Thompson

It is notoriously difficult to keep a secret in Washington DC. But there was one political mystery that went unsolved for 30 years.

Until finally in 2005 a former top FBI official named Mark Felt revealed that he was the secret source dubbed “Deep Throat” who guided Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post in uncovering the Watergate scandal.

Working with veteran attorney and former prosecutor John O’Connor, Felt published his memoir in 2006, a book called A G-man’s Life.

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Drawing on his notes, letters, and diaries over the years O’Connor helped Felt assemble a portrait of a man dedicated to law enforcement but conflicted about going outside regular channels with his Inside information.

Mark Felt was 93 when the book was published, and was unable to go on a book tour or do interviews, so his publisher sent John O’Connor in his place. That’s when I met John.

So here now, from 2006, Mark Felt’s co-author John O’Connor.

Mark Felt died two years after this interview, in 2008, at age 95.

The Queen of Country: Reba McEntire Reflects on Life and Career

Bill Thompson
Photo by Gage Skidmor

Reba McEntire was just 21 when she recorded her first song in 1976. It would be years before her first #1 record, but since then she’s been pure gold.

75 million records sold, over 100 Billboard singles, including 25 #1s.

As an actress Reba has appeared in several movies, and had her own TV series for six seasons.

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Get your copy of Reba McEntire’s book

In 1994, when her star was shining bright and had not stopped rising yet, McEntire wrote an autobiography. She called it Reba: My Story.

I met her that spring when she was on a book tour, and had the pleasure of introducing her to my wife and my two daughters that day.

So here now, from 1994, Reba McEntire.

Reba McEntire turned 70 last month. She’s in a relationship with actor Rex Linn, whom she met while filming Young Sheldon.

Substance vs. Sensationalism: Navigating News in the Era of Clickbait

Bill Thompson

Breaking news … this just in … a major new development….

Did I catch your attention? Perhaps. But how do you know I have anything of substance to say, or am I just bloviating?

In fact it is getting harder and harder to distinguish between what is real, substantive news and what is just some guy commenting on the latest rumor from a webcam in his mom’s basement.

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Get your copy of Bill Wasik’s book

New York Times Magazine editor Bill Wasik identified this phenomenon 16 years ago in his book called And Then There’s This.

And back in 2009 Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube were all still pretty young. Tik Tok had not emerged, and podcasts were relatively new. So the phenomenon Wasik described has simply gotten bigger

He and I met one afternoon in the summer of 2009 to talk about his book. So here now, from 2009, Bill Wasik.

The NBA’s Chet Walker: A Black Athletes Coming of Age in America

Bill Thompson

They called him “Chet the Jet.”

Chet Walker was a seven-time NBA All-Star, during a 13 year playing career for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Chicago Bulls.

And that was after a two-time All-American college career at Bradley University in the early 1960s.

But his success was not limited to the court. After his retirement from the NBA in 1975 Walker became an Emmy-winning TV producer,

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Get your copy of Chet Walker’s book

But for many years there was a smoldering anger in Chet Walker, anger at the way he had been treated – or mistreated -as a talented athlete.

Finally in 1995 Walker wrote a memoir, called Long Time Coming, subtitled A Black Athletes Coming of Age in America. He and I talked about the book that summer.

So here now, from 1995, Chet Walker.

Chet Walker Was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. He died in 2024 at age 84.

The Fear Gripping America’s Shrinking Middle Class — An Exploration by Barbara Ehrenreich

Bill Thompson
Photo by David Shankbon

The wealth gap between America’s 1% and all the rest of us is wide and getting wider. But it didn’t start with us.

At least, not all of us.

In 1989, author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich highlighted the growing struggles of not just the poor, but the middle class. And in particular, the professional middle class, the “white collar” middle class.

What is startling and sobering is that this 36 year old interview foreshadowed so much of what our current economy looks like.

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Get your copy of Barbara Ehrenreich’s book

And of course, in this interview when Barbara Ehrenreich talks about the young people entering the workforce: Gen X, she’s talking about you

Barbara Ehrenreich’s book was called Fear of Falling. I was in my mid-30s when I did this interview and it hit home for me.

So here now, from 1989, Barbara Ehrenreich.

Barbara Ehrenreich died in 2022. She was 81

History With a Comic Touch, As Told by Paula Poundstone

Bill Thompson

There are many hundreds of thousands of biographies and history books, but probably very very few of them have been written by a comedian.

And, few comedians who write a memoir do so with the help of historical figures.

That’s where the popular stand-up comic Paula Poundstone comes in.

When publishers invited her to write a memoir, she hesitated, until she had a brainstorm.

And the result, in 2006, was her first book, which she called There’s Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say.

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But the road from concept to publication was bumpy. A few years into the writing process she faced legal charges, including felony endangerment of a child.

Get your copy of Paula Poundstone’s book

But instead of abandoning the book Poundstone Incorporated her legal troubles into the narrative.

I met her in the spring of 2007 when she was on a book tour.

So here now, from 2007, Paula Poundstone.

Paula Poundstone is 65 now. She continues to tour the country, and she hosts the podcast “Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone.”