About the Author

Daniel Schorr has covered the news for more than six decades. In addition to winning three Emmys(R), he has received the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Golden Baton for Exceptional Contribution to Radio and Television Reporting and Commentary, a Peabody personal award for "a lifetime of uncompromising reporting of the highest integrity," and the George Polk Radio commentary award. He has been inducted into the Society of Professional Journalists Hall of Fame. Schorr reported alongside Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite for CBS, started CNN with Ted Turner, and is now senior news analyst for National Public Radio(R).

Reviews

Pick a major news event of the post-WWII era and chances are NPR commentator Schorr covered it. He was present at the inceptions of NATO, the Republic of Indonesia and the Berlin Wall. He conducted the first-ever TV interview with Khrushchev, arranged for himself and violinist Isaac Stern to take one of the first tours of Anne Frank's garret, and was Ted Turner's first hire for his fledgling Cable News Network in 1980, a position Schorr accepted after his principles got him into trouble at CBS. The son of Eastern European immigrants, Schorr never intended to become a broadcaster; he wanted to write for the New York Times. But a hiring freeze on Jewish correspondents put the kibosh on that dream, and once he joined the fabled team of CBS-TV reporters headed up by Edward R. Murrow, he never extracted himself from broadcast media. In this engaging, fascinating and often funny memoir, he alternates between offering an up-close-and-personal look at the more memorable events of the 20th century and sharing intimate stories about everyone from Shirley MacLaine to Richard Nixon (who included Schorr on his famous "enemies" list). Uncompromising and occasionally antagonistic, Schorr, like any good old-school journalist, is objective, even about himself. Indeed, the best description of him comes from former CBS boss Richard Salant: "He was not universally loved. But he was very good." Whether his book will be universally loved remains to be seen. But it's definitely very good. 16-pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (May 8) Forecast: Well-known to TV viewers and NPR audiences, Schorr should get major media attention when he tours N.Y. and D.C., and, engaging as this book is, with a first printing of 35,000, it may even flirt with the bestseller lists. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Twenty-four years ago, Schorr published a memoir called Clearing the Air at the height of his journalistic fame. He had just left CBS News after three decades of international and domestic reporting. The spike in Schorr's fame came because he told the story behind a secret U.S. House of Representatives report on covert U.S. government operations in other nations, then refused to reveal to government officials how he obtained the report. Now, at age 85, Schorr covers much of the same ground as in the earlier book, adding about 50 pages of new material. The additions focus on Schorr's six years at Cable News Network, where he became the first prominent journalist hired by founding mogul Ted Turner. In the mid-1980s, Schorr left CNN because of a dispute over editorial independence, moving to a position as commentator on several National Public Radio news segments. Although journalists' memoirs are often pretentious and uninformative because of their outsider status, this memoir is neither. A useful addition to all journalism and politics collections. Steve Weinberg, Univ. of Missouri Journalism Sch., Columbia Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Doris Kearns Goodwin How I love this book! "Staying Tuned" is uplifting evidence that integrity in journalism still exists. Schorr is a remarkably shrewd and honest observer about himself, his colleagues, and his beloved profession.
E.J. Dionne Jr. Syndicated columnist for "The Washington Post" God gave Daniel Schorr the chance to be present at almost all the important moments in the history of the last sixty years, the guts to probe and challenge the participants, and the genius to describe them with clarity and eloquence. This book is a joy for today's readers, and it will be a treasure trove for those who try years from now to understand who we were and why we did what we did.
Judith Viorst The stories are delicious, the recall is astounding, the insights are witty and shrewdand the writing sings. This thoroughly engaging memoir only proves what his legions of fans already know: that when there's something to tell, nobody tells it better than Dan Schorr, America's master commentator and moral compass.
Michael Beschloss Presidential historian One of the great journalists of our time shows how he did it in a fascinating and thoughtful book that combines the best of memoir and contemporary history.
Walter Cronkite This is Schorr's detailed report on why numerous heads of state and other officials have called him a son-of-a-bitch. In reciting that result of his aggressive reporting, he also fascinates with much of the inside history of our last half century.
William Safire "The New York Times" One of the great broadcast journalists of our timescrupulously honest, historically fair, fearless, forthright, and sometimes deliciously insightful.