Hugh Downs, legendary broadcaster at 20/20 and The Tonight Show, describes how an endlessly creative childhood lead to his career as a radioman and broadcaster. Topics examined include: his father’s wayward attempt to automate their entire family home (down to the plumbing), a boyhood attempt to manufacture alcohol (until his Grandmother wrecked the still), being chased by a steam engine, klieg lights and their intense heat, cooking chicken in mud pits, Jack Paar and the role of television. This is an intimate and hilarious autobiography that celebrates the unique mix of whimsy, curiosity and discipline that defines the culture of broadcasting.
This three-volume set is a valuable resource for researching the history of American television. An encyclopedic range of information documents how television forever changed the face of media and continues to be a powerful influence on society. What are the reasons behind enduring popularity of television genres such as police crime dramas, soap operas, sitcoms, and "reality TV"? What impact has television had on the culture and morality of American life? Does television largely emulate and reflect real life and society, or vice versa? How does television's influence differ from that of other media such as newspapers and magazines, radio, movies, and the Internet? These are just a few of the questions explored in the three-volume encyclopedia TV in the USA: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. This expansive set covers television from 1950 to the present day, addressing shows of all genres, well-known programs and short-lived series alike, broadcast on the traditional and cable networks. All three volumes lead off with a keynote essay regarding the technical and historical features of the decade(s) covered. Each entry on a specific show investigates the narrative, themes, and history of the program; provides comprehensive information about when the show started and ended, and why; and identifies the star players, directors, producers, and other key members of the crew of each television production. The set also features essays that explore how a particular program or type of show has influenced or reflected American society, and it includes numerous sidebars packed with interesting data, related information, and additional insights into the subject matter.
''When you are a great grandfather you will experience something so much more powerful and meaningful than being a father or a grandfather, that you will look at the march of generations with new eyes.'' When his great-grandson Alexander was born in 2002, Hugh Downs suddenly gained a rare perspective on the world -- he had seen the evolution of American culture through five generations (his parents', his own, his children's, his grandchildren's, and now his great-grandson's). Once Downs realized the extraordinary amount of love he experienced for his brand new descendent, as well as the profound connection he felt between them, he decided to write him a letter, to be read at different stages of Alexander's life. Letter to A Great Grandson offers wisdom, advice, and speculation about how life was, how life is, and how life may be in the future. As one of America's most trusted commentators, Downs is a grandfather figure to many, and his words will resonate with readers everywhere, at any age. Letter to A Great Grandson presents a completely new system for categorizing life. Downs has divided it into seventeen stages, ranging from infant, to post-puberty minor, to "young old," to ancient, and everything in between. This unique organization allows him to offer specific thoughts on each stage, making the book pertinent to all age levels, ideal for reading over and over again during different periods in life. Downs discusses the common problems and achievements in each stage, and along the way offers his characteristically erudite and conversational thoughts on relationships, science, sex, education, careers, literature, and life in general. He also includes touching tidbits from his own childhood, and those of his family, illustrating that sometimes one must look back, in order to look forward. Though Letter to A Great Grandson is not a how-to book, it does teach by example. It stresses the importance and joy of sharing your thoughts and feelings with the children in your life, and of actively maintaining family connections -- before it is too late. This makes it a wonderful model for great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents alike. Considering the special bond between grandparents and grandchildren (and great-grandparents and great-grandchildren), surprisingly few books address this important relationship. When this vital, n0 heartwarming subject matter is combined with Hugh Downs's unique wisdom, wit, and warmth, the result is a book that will truly be treasured.
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Exuberantly written, highly informative, Jensen's Stories That Changed America examines the work of twenty-one investigative writers, and how their efforts forever changed our country. Here are the pioneering muckrakers, like Upton Sinclair, author of the fact-based novel The Jungle, that inspired Theodore Roosevelt to sign the Pure Food and Drug Act into law; "Queen of the Muckrakers" Ida Mae Tarbell, whose McClure magazine exposés led to the dissolution of Standard Oil's monopoly; and Lincoln Steffens, a reporter who unearthed corruption in both municipal and federal governments. You'll also meet Margaret Sanger, the former nurse who coined the term "birth control"; George Seldes, the most censored journalist in American history; Nobel Prize-winning novelist John Steinbeck; environmentalist Rachel Carson; National Organization of Women founder Betty Friedan; African American activist Malcolm X; consumer advocate Ralph Nader; and Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters whose Watergate break-in coverage brought down President Richard Nixon. The courageous writers Jensen includes in this deftly researched volume dedicated their lives to fight for social, civil, political and environmental rights with their mighty pens.
Writing in the breezy style that made his syndicated Sun-Times column so widely read, Chicago's favorite newspaperman-about-town and TV personality presents his city as only he could know it. Kup's Chicago is a step back into a time of Daly the First, the supremacy of the Pump Room and three martini lunches. This is a grand and exuberant tour of the politics, literature, crime, football, business and art that made 50s and 60s Chicago the "City of Big Shoulders."
