Synopses & Reviews
Intimate. Revealing. Candid. Published by the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, Conversations with Cronkite gives readers a rare glimpse into the life and times of Walter Cronkite in his own words. The book contains selections from interviews between the legendary journalist and an experienced oral historian--Cronkite's friend, Dr. Don Carleton.
With the publication of Conversations with Cronkite, readers have the opportunity to discover the behind-the-scenes stories of his life, edited by Carleton to focus on key events, issues, and themes. More than just oral history transcripts, these are the intimate conversations of two friends, covering virtually every aspect of Cronkite's life and career. Illustrated with photographs and archival treasures from the Cronkite Papers, Conversations with Cronkite gives readers the opportunity to once again hear the voice of the most trusted man in America.
Walter Cronkite on:
His famous sign off And that's the way it is
I didn't clear it with CBS] in any way. I started using it, and Richard Salant] said, This presupposes that everything we said is right, that that's the whole picture of the day's news. I don't really think you ought to be doing that. I think he was correct. But the thing had already caught on. It really was just rolling. So I got to kind of a point of being stubborn about it and said, Well, I like it. Salant] said, Well, it's up to you. He let it go. It has been much criticized by serious television critics . . . because of that argument that . . . it was presumptive that everything we said is correct. Which was wrong. I shouldn't have said that. . . . And particularly when we got into controversial subjects like the Vietnam War. In fact, there's a New Yorker cartoon with a guy coming half out of his chair and shouting at his television, saying, That's NOT the way it is.
Being a United Press reporter during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II
God, it was cold. We looked like Washington's army at Valley Forge. At one point, the troops I was with entered a town, and we got into a fire fight right away. It was very intense. My driver and I hopped out of our jeep and got in behind a doorway. The Germans were at one end of the main street and . . . it was a pretty good fire fight. I looked up and saw a GI . . . leaning out taking a shot or two. . . . I knew this was a story. I yelled out, What's your name, soldier? Colonel Jones. I said, Where are you from, what outfit are you with? He said, Mr. Cronkite, I'm your driver.
On Fidel Castro
He was fascinated about . . . my war experience. Fascinated about the landings in Normandy. A real war buff. At one point I said, I've been in a lot of Communist countries, including living two years in Moscow. I have yet to see a Communist country that understood the necessity of maintenance of . . . buildings or anything else. Castro] threw up his hands and said, Oh, boy, I know that. It's absolutely terrible. I said, Well, why is it? Castro] said, First of all, it's inherent in the idea of Communism. People don't own things, so they don't take care of them. That's the answer you capitalists give, but it's true.
Review
and#8220;Croswell Bowen was a man full of contradictions, and life did not always deal him a fair hand. Difficult he sometimes may have been, but you cannot take away his talent as a writer and reporter or fault his generosity of spirit. He deserves not to be forgotten, and thanks to this loving and eloquent portrait by his oldest daughter, he wonand#8217;t be.and#8221;and#8212;Robert Cowley, author and founding editor of
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History and#160;
Review
and#8220;Walking the tricky line between biography and memoir with aplomb, Betsy Connor Bowen paints a portrait of her New Deal liberal photo-reporter father that shows him in his literary glory but with his flaws as welland#8212;which makes him all the more intriguing. Fascinating and heart-breaking.and#8221;and#8212;Heath Lee, author of
Winnie Davis: Daughter of the Lost Causeand#160;
Review
and#8220;This book is an homage to all those who, like Croswell Bowen, dare to face the blank page, who live from one story to the next in order to understand and articulate the world they knowand#8212;and, ideally, script a better one. An engrossing must-read for aspiring and veteran journalists alike.and#8221;and#8212;Stacey Chase, freelance writer for the
Boston Globe and
Globe Magazine, the
Christian Science Monitor, and
NewsweekSynopsis
Croswell Bowen: A Writerand#8217;s Life, a Daughterand#8217;s Portrait is the life story of a journalist who wrote his way through the major events of the mid-twentieth century.
and#160;While tracing the trajectory of Croswell Bowenand#8217;s (1905and#8211;71) personal life, his daughter, Betsy Connor Bowen, follows the path left by her father as he wrote about the Wall Street crash of 1929, the Great Depression, World War II, the McCarthy era, the presidency of John F. Kennedy, and the Vietnam War.
and#160;A riveting account of the life and times of an American journalist, Connor Bowenand#8217;s biography of Bowen is a daughterand#8217;s quest to find her father through his work at the intersections of journalism, democracy, and liberalism.
and#160;Bowenand#8217;s life and work were shaped by his conviction that finding the right stories and telling them with the right words could create a better world. He wrote about criminals, poverty, illness, discrimination, and other matters of social injustice. While writing to advance causes he believed in and lending a voice to the less fortunate, he struggled to maintain his marriage and provide for his family. Although he made mistakes in both his professional and personal life, Connor Bowen celebrates his ability, even in failure, to maintain bold moral integrity.
and#160;
About the Author
BETSY CONNOR BOWEN has worked as a community organizer, elementary school teacher, college instructor and assistant professor, securities analyst, journalist, and filmmaker. She is the author of a young adult novella, Spring Bear, and the editor of her father's World War II memoir, Back from Tobruk (Potomac Books, 2012).