The Quiz Kids radio and television program was a national institution in the 1940s and 1950s. Ruth and a few other top contestants were guests on the Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and Eddie Cantor shows, starred in movie shorts, and traveled all over the United States selling war bonds during World War II.Did the Quiz Kids fulfill their youthful promise? What were the fruits - bitter and sweet - of their childhood experience? What are the lessons for gifted children today? Ruth interviewed her Quiz Kid colleagues to find out how being celebrated for their "brains" affected their lives. The result is Whatever Happened to the Quiz Kids?
Quiz Kids was a network radio program that aired from 1940 to 1953 featuring smart children answering difficult questions submitted by listeners. Part of radio history during its "golden age," Quiz Kids thrived during a period of dramatic change in America. Audiences marveled at the speed with which the Kids answered the most difficult questions, vaulting the show beyond the producers' wildest expectations. Eleanor Roosevelt invited the Kids to the White House to meet with them. Their appearance at the Senate is discussed in the Congressional Record. During World War II, they toured America and raised $120 million in war bonds. They were guests on Jack Benny's radio show for three consecutive weeks. Walt Disney, Bob Hope, Fred Allen, the Lone Ranger, Gene Autry and other famous people were on their program. This thorough history describes the creation of the program, its national popularity and the children who made it such good listening.
The Quiz Kids radio and television program was a national institution in the 1940s and 1950s. Did the Quiz Kids fulfill their youthful promise? What were the fruits — bitter and sweet — of their childhood experience? What are the lessons learned for gifted children today?
The 1950s television game show was a cultural touchstone, reflecting the zeitgeist of a flourishing modern nation. The author explores the iconography of the mid-20th century U.S. in the context of TV watching, game playing and prize winning. The scandals that marred the genre's reputation are revisited, highlighting American's propensity for both gullibility and winking cynicism.
TV game shows are an American pastime, broadcast ratings champ, and cultural institution. Lavishly illustrated and filled with entertaining titbits, Game Shows FAQ presents an unprecedented look at how the game show genre has evolved in the past hundred years. From its earliest days as a promotional tool for newspapers, to the high-browed panel games on radio, to the scandalous years of the quiz shows, to the glitzy and raucous games of the 1970s, to the prime-time extravaganzas of the modern era – this book examines the most relevant game shows of every decade, exploring how the genre changed and the reasons behind its evolution. Packed with photos and mementos to give a feel of how game shows evolved over the years, the book includes interviews and insights from the shows' beloved hosts, including Wink Martindale and Marc Summers, executives Bob Boden and Jamie Klein, and producers Aaron Solomon and Mark Maxwell-Smith, among others. Game Shows FAQ offers a richly detailed lineage of this American television institution.
A 2019 EISNER AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST REALITY-BASED WORK A NPR BEST BOOK OF 2018 A VULTURE BEST COMIC OF 2018 A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF 2018 A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2018 A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF 2018 WINNER OF THE PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 2018 GRAPHIC NOVEL CRITICS POLL In this moving graphic memoir, Eisner Award-winning writer and artist Michael Kupperman traces the life of his reclusive father—the once-world-famous Joel Kupperman, Quiz Kid. That his father is slipping into dementia—seems to embrace it, really—means that the past he would never talk about might be erased forever. Joel Kupperman became one of the most famous children in America during World War II as one of the young geniuses on the series Quiz Kids. With the uncanny ability to perform complex math problems in his head, Joel endeared himself to audiences across the country and became a national obsession. Following a childhood spent in the public eye, only to then fall victim to the same public’s derision, Joel deliberately spent the remainder of his life removed from the world at large. With wit and heart, Michael Kupperman presents a fascinating account of mid-century radio and early television history, the pro-Jewish propaganda entertainment used to counteract anti-Semitism, and the early age of modern celebrity culture. All the Answers is both a powerful father-son story and an engaging portrayal of what identity came to mean at this turning point in American history, and shows how the biggest stages in the world can overcome even the greatest of players.
George Szell was the Cleveland Orchestra's towering presence for over a quarter of a century. From the boardroom to the stage, Szell's powerful personality affected every aspect of a musical institution he reshaped in his own perfectionist image. Marcia Hansen Kraus's participation in Cleveland's classical musical scene allowed her an intimate view of Szell and his achievements. As a musician herself, and married to an oboist who worked under Szell, Kraus pulls back the curtain on this storied era through fascinating interviews with orchestra musicians and patrons. Their recollections combine with Kraus's own to paint a portrait of a multifaceted individual who both earned and transcended his tyrannical reputation. If some musicians hated Szell, others loved him or at the least respected his fair-minded toughness. A great many remember playing under his difficult leadership as the high point in their lives. Filled with vivid backstage stories, George Szell's Reign reveals the human side of a great orchestra ”and how one visionary built a premier classical music institution.
A delivery announcement on elegant paper stamped with the date of a daughter's birth; a tarnished silver baby cup, dented at the rim; a lovingly hand-knitted sweater; a school committee flyer; hurried grocery lists. This is all Nancy Rappaport had left to remember her mother - a woman defined by her absence. In 1963, Nancy Rappaport's mother committed suicide after a bitter public divorce and custody battle. Nancy was just four years old and the youngest of six children. Growing up in a blended family of eleven children after her father remarried, Nancy was bewildered about why her mother took her own life and left her behind. Years later, encouraged by her own children's curiosity about their grandmother, and fortified by her training as a child psychiatrist, Nancy began to investigate her mother's life and the mysteries surrounding her death. Pursuing clues and following leads, Rappaport pieces together in In Her Wake a complex mosaic of her mother. Drawing on court depositions, newspaper coverage, her mother's unpublished novel, and interviews with family and friends, she uncovers the story of a conflicted and troubled activist, socialite, and community leader. Rappaport explores the impact of her mother's suicide from the perspective of a daughter, psychiatrist, wife, and mother of three - illuminating in the process the complicated nature of loss, reconciliation, and healing. Inspiring, honest, and engaging, In Her Wake is a powerful testament to a woman's search for answers, and a potent reminder that love outlasts death.
