Journalists

Carl T. Rowan

Bill Thompson

As a young journalist in the 1950s, Carl T. Rowan covered the emerging civil rights movement, and its leaders, including people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

The reputation he built came to the attention of President John F. Kennedy, who, in 1961, name Rowan to a high level position in the State Department.

And in 1963, Kennedy appointed Rowan ambassador to Finland.

Row and remain in the government for three years after Kennedy’s assassination, before resuming what would be a long and acclaimed journalism career.

I first met him in 1991, what he wrote a memoir called Breaking Barriers.

In this interview, you’ll also hear a reference to “thje gun incident” — in 1988 Rowan confronted an intruder at his home, and shot and wounded him with what turned out to be an unregistered handgun.

So here now, from 1991, Carl T. Rowan.

Carl T, Rowan died in 2000, at age 75.

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Roger Mudd

Bill Thompson

If you were in network TV news 50 or 60 years ago, the place to be was the CBS News Washington DC bureau.

CBS was long considered the gold standard of television news – after all, Edward R, Murrow helped shape and define it.

Among the roster of journalism heavyweights in the bureau was Roger Mudd. He had a front-row seat to that historic 20-year period from 1960 to 1980, which he wrote about in a 2008 memoir. That’s when I met him.

So here now, from 2008, Rodger Mudd

Roger Mudd died 10 days ago. He was 93.

Joan Lunden

Bill Thompson

For nearly 20 years Joan Lunden was the co-host of ABC’s Good Morning America. Millions woke up every morning to her cheerful, reassuring, and professional presence.

As a journalist, Lunden interviewed presidents and royalyu. She covered the Olympics. She bungee-jumped.

In 1997. she left the show — and was a bit taken aback by what other people assumed she must have been feeling.

I met her just a little over a year aftrer her last brodcast on GMA. She had written a book called A Bend in the Road is Not The End of the Road.

So here now, from 1998, Joan Lunden:

Joan Lunden is 70 now. Since leaving GMA, Lundern has written eight books. And since 2014 she’s been a special correspondent for NBC’s Today Show.

Kitty Kelley

Bill Thompson

Journalist and celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley first rose to prominence in 1978, with her biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, a book called Jackie Oh!

Photo: RaymondBoyd51

But it was her 1986 biography of the legendary Frank Sinatra that make kitty Kelley a household name.

Kelley is a meticulous and very thorough biographer, and in researching Sinatra’s life, she uncovered a lot of things he didn’t want uncovered.

Her book was an instant best-seller, but it also got her sued by Sinatra, and it got her attacked by his powerful friends, including talk show host Larry King, who fancied himself a clothes Sinatra friend, and when Kitty Kelley appeared on King’s late night radio show the night before my interview with her, King rake her over the coals.

When I interviewed her the next day, she seemed largely unscathed by the king interview.

So here now, from 1986, Kitty Kelley.

Kitty Kelley is 78 now. Her last book was published in 2012.

Vladimir Pozner

Bill Thompson
Phgto: Augustas Didžgalvis

For decades the USSR — the Soviet UInion — was a major world power, but it was held together largely through force and intimidation.

Things began to unravel in the late 1980s — the momentum built after President Ronald Reagan delivered these words at the Berlin Wall:

The wall did come down two years later, and two years after that, the Soviet Union came to an end.

Watching it all, from a front-row seat, was high-profilpe Soviet journalist and broadcaster Vladimir Pozner, who was also a freqeuent guest on American television, largely because in his youth, he spent a lot of time in tghe U.S. abd vecame fluent in English.

I interviewed Vladimir Pozner several times, including in 1992, less than a year after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He had written a book called, appropriately, Eyewitness.

So here now, from 1992, former Soviet journalist Vladimir Pozner.

Vladimir Pozner is 86 now. He’s a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Sam Donaldson

Bill Thompson

If Donald Trump thinks he’s getting a rough time from the journalist who cover him at the White House, he’s never met Sam Donaldson.

From 1977 to 1989 — the Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan years — Donaldson was was Chief White House correspondent for ABC News.

During those twelve years, Donaldson proved to be a relentless, aggressive reporter, never letting the president get away with a vague, evasive, or unsatisfactory answer to a question.

Ironically, the title of Donaldson’s 1987 book was a phrase he never actually said. The book was called
“Hold On, Mr. President.”

But listen to this interview that’s more than 30 years old and see if it doesn’t have a lot of relevance to what we see going on right now today.

So here now, from 1987, Sam Donaldson.

Sam Donaldson retired from ABC News in 2009. He is 86 now. and serves on the Board of New Mexico First, a bipartisan booster organization.

Richard Shenkman

Bill Thompson

As we head into the Independence Day weekend, it’s a good time to look back on American history.

For example, we all know that Christopher Columbus discovered America. No, wait, Leif Erikson did.

Abe Lincoln once walk 3 miles to return a library book.

George Washington had wooden teeth.

Are these things true, or are they Legends and myths?

In 1989, investigative journalist Richard Shankman wrote a book called “Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths About American History.”

Here now, from 1989, Richard Shenkman. \

Rick Shenkman has written several other books debunking the myths of history. And he is founder and editor of the History News Network website.

Art Buchwald

Bill Thompson

Art Buchwald may be the first modern-day American journalist to be accused of producing “fake news.” After he wrote a satirical piece about President Dwight Eisenhower’s breakfast habits, Ike’s press secretary actually held a news conference to denounce Buchwald’s column and offer the real facts about the President’s breakfasts.

For decades to follow, Art Buchwald wrote about Washington politics, but also daily life in America, but always with a sharp satirical wit.

I interviewed him several times, including the interview you’re about to hear, from 1991, when

America was still in the recession that started in 1987, when Anita Hill and Iran-Contra were still fresh in everyone’s mind, and the “George Bush” he’s talking about is George H.W. Bush.

Here now, Art Buchwald, from 1991:

The last time I talked with Art Buchwald was in 2005 — he died a little over a year later, at age 81.

Mark McEwen

Bill Thompson

For 16 years, Mark McEwen was a fixture on CBS’s “Early Show.”

Mark McEwen on Facebook

For a time, McEwen was also host of A&E’s “Live by Request.” Later he joined a TV station in Orlando, Florida.

But in 2005, Mark McEwen suffered a stroke. He nearly died.

I met him three years later, when he wrote a book about his experience.

Here now, Mark McEwen, from 2008:

Today Mark McEwen, who is 65, still lives in Florida.