Charles Kuralt's People

A collection of award-winning newspaper columns written in 1956, at the beginning of Kuralt's journalistic career, presents stories of the ordinary people of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Long before Kuralt became famous for his essays on the Emmy-winning CBS series On the Road and Sunday Morning, he began his career in journalism writing similar pieces for the Charlotte News. Kuralt's "People" column recorded the various thoughts, events, and activities in the lives of the citizens of the North Carolina town. This collection presents those columns chronologically from 1956 and includes portraits of a woman who loses her garden to progress when a five-story government building is erected, a man who rents juke boxes and laments the popularity of rock and roll, and the observations of a traveling locksmith, cab driver, barber, and more. Interspersed between the columns are former colleagues' recollections of Kuralt's warmth and humor. These columns earned the 22-year-old the Ernie Pyle Award. Kuralt fans will enjoy this collection of 169 essays, in which his highlighting of the obscure and ordinary shows the early development of his distinctive style and his particular interests. Vanessa Bush
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