Peter Jennings: A Reporter's Life

Peter Jennings: A Reporter's Life

Peter Jennings: A Reporter's Life

Peter Jennings: A Reporter's Life

Paperback(Reprint)

$21.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
    Choose Expedited Shipping at checkout for delivery by Wednesday, April 3
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

Peter Jennings was the sole anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1983 until his death from cancer in 2005. For many Americans, he was the voice and face that gave shape and meaning to every day's news. But who was Peter Jennings really? In this absorbing biography, readers will get to know Jennings through the memories of his friends, family, competitors, colleagues, and interview subjects. Their stories are full of surprises. Jennings, we learn, was a high school dropout who spent the rest of his life in pursuit of knowledge. He traveled the world in search of stories, a notebook perpetually thrust through his back belt loop. In his front pocket, he carried a miniature copy of the Constitution, a testament to his love for the United States; a Canadian by birth, Jennings acquired American citizenship in 2003.

Peter Jennings was a celebrity, of course -- a dashingly handsome and elegant man, famous for his ability to charm women and world leaders alike -- but in these pages he is remembered as a loyal friend and a devoted family man, who loved nothing more than to canoe with his kids and listen to jazz with his friends in the Hamptons. Not that he was the relaxing sort. Jennings was a task-master, who ripped other reporters' pieces to shreds, forcing them to rewrite from the ground up. He was a perfectionist, too, who drove his fellow correspondents crazy with his ad-libbed questions on the air. It was all about standards. Throughout his life, Peter Jennings was driven by a passion to seek the truth and convey that truth accurately, simply, cleanly, and elegantly to his American audience. He was our voice.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781586486440
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Publication date: 10/28/2008
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 352
Sales rank: 690,421
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Kate Darnton is a contributing editor to PublicAffairs, living in Boston, Massachusetts.

Kayce Freed Jennings is executive vice president and co-founder of The Documentary Group, an independent production company. She was married to Peter Jennings from 1997 until his death in 2005.

Lynn Sherr has been an award-winning correspondent with ABC News since 1977.

Table of Contents

Introduction Lynn Sherr vii

Contributors xi

Chapter 1 A Canadian Childhood 1

Chapter 2 Boy Anchor 17

Chapter 3 The Talking Trench Coat 33

Chapter 4 Roving Anchor 61

Chapter 5 Flying Solo 79

Chapter 6 Making the News 101

Chapter 7 World News Tonight 135

Chapter 8 Enthusiasms 173

Chapter 9 September 11 203

Chapter 10 The Man 217

Chapter 11 Citizen 249

Chapter 12 "I Have Lung Cancer" 265

Chapter 13 Legacy 283

Chapter 14 "Finally, This Evening..." 295

Acknowledgments Kayce Freed Jennings 297

Notes 301

Chronology of Peter Jennings' Life 311

Selected Documentaries and News Specials 313

Photo Credits 317

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews