| Judge Sperber Biography Award |
Privileged
Son:
Otis
Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty.
Presented at Fordham University on
December 3, 2002 by Dr. Robin Andersen and Dean Jeffrey von Arx, S.J.
The award is given in honor of Ann
Sperber, the author of the excellent biography of Edward R. Murrow, Murrow:
His Life and Times. Through the generous support of Ann’s mother Lisa
the award was established to promote and encourage other fine biographical
works that focus on a media professional. We believe that Ann’s biography of
Murrow set an example for meticulous research and finely crafted writing in the
filed of biography writing. The book received numerous awards and was a
finalist in 1987 for the Pulitzer Prize.
Henry
Mayer
Susan
Tifft and Alex Jones
David
Nasaw
Judges
Joe Wershba started at CBS in the late 1940s,
working first on the radio and then moving over to television journalism. Joe
worked with Ed Murrow on some of the most famous See It Now programs, including
the courageous shows that challenged the tactics of Joe McCarthy. He was one of
the first producers assigned to work with Don Hewitt on 60 minutes,
and has won at least 2 Emmys, but as Joe says, “If your in the business long
enough everybody wins awards.”
Neil
Hickey was a stellar figure at TV Guide for many years
where he served as New York Bureau Chief and later as senior editor. Neil has
reported from Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Northern Ireland and Cuba, just to
name a few. In 1995 he won the Everett C. Parker Award for Lifetime Achievement
for his writings on telecommunication. He is now Editor At Large for the Columbia
Journalism Review, where he continues to fight the good fight to keep
journalistic values at the heart of reporting – and in this age of bottom-line
management – that is no small feat.
Joe Dembo is
currently a Professor at Fordham University, but before that he had a really
interesting job! Joe started at CBS in 1960, and during his 28 years there he
was a News Correspondent, Executive Producer of the Morning News, he was the
Rome bureau chief, and for more than10 years he was Vice President of CBS news.
In 1993, Joe was appointed president of National Public Radio and for 3 years
he served on NPR”S Board of Directors.
Patricia
Bosworth: biographer and author extraordinaire, has penned works
about Montgomery Clift and Diane Arbus, among other books and features. Her
most recent biography illuminates that enigmatic figure Marlon Brando, in the
Penguin Series. Patricia has often been our compass on quality biography
writing. It is not surprising that she was a good friend of Ann Sperber’s.
Al Auster is also a
Professor here at Fordham, and has written 3 books, most notably, How
the War was Remembered, and American Film and Society since 1945,
now in its 3rd edition. And that book will come out in a fourth
edition if Al lives to be 70.
Remarks by Robin Andersen from the
award ceremony, December 3, 2002, Fordham University.
Privileged Son is the
story of Otis Chandler the third and last Chandler to run the Los Angeles
Times....more
Dennis
McDougal was educated at UCLA receiving his degree in English, cum
laude. He received his Masters in Journalism, summa cum laude. He was a staff
writer at the LA Times, a producer at CNN. He has taught writing at UCLA
and California State University. He is the author of many books, including the
best selling history/biography of Lew Wasserman, former chairman of
MCA/Universal. But my favorite part of Dennis’s resume is the line from the New
York Times. They called him “LA’s number one muckraker.”