Lone Star: The Extraordinary Life And Times Of Dan Rather

Synopsis

His career has covered and in many ways mirrored the turbulence of the last four decades. Dan Rather was the first to report John F. Kennedy' s death in Dallas. He sparred with Richard Nixon during the Watergate era. And from 1981 to 2004, he was the anchorman and managing editor for the CBS Evening News- a job that took him from Soviet-occupied Afghanistan to war-torn Bosnia, from the Reagan Iran-Contra scandal to the Clinton impeachment, from 9/11 to the war in Iraq. Rather is both widely admired for his dedication to journalistic integrity and known for his occasional stubbornness. Throughout his career, critics have taken him to task for his alleged liberal bias, poked fun at his homespun locutions, and wondered about strange incidents in his personal life. Now, in this first-ever full-scale biography, a longtime writer and producer at CBS News delivers the inside story on Rather and his times. Drawing on more than 80 interviews with CBS and other broadcast news insiders as well as access to Rather himself, Alan Weisman brings Rather' s long career to life- from his early days as a Texas radio reporter to the breaking-news exclusives of his anchorman years- and offers new insights into right-wing allegations of bias as well as the infamous " Memogate" scandal of 2004. For anyone who wants to know the real Dan Rather, this unvarnished, exhaustively researched biography is a must-read. Alan Weisman (Hillsdale, NJ) recently retired from CBS News after working for more than 25 years as a writer and producer for the CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes, and other news shows.