Peter Jennings: A Reporter's Life

Kate Darnton

ISBN 10: 1586486446 / ISBN 13: 9781586486440

Published by PublicAffairs,U.S., 2008

About this Item

For many Americans, Peter Jennings was the voice and face that gave shape and meaning to every day's news. In this oral biography, readers witness Jennings' extraordinary rise to the top of his profession, but they get to know him as a person, too. It brings together memories contributed by Peter's friends, family, competitors, colleagues, and interview subjects. They reveal facets of a man many of us felt we knew well,but only because he greeted us every weekday evening from our television sets. Peter Jennings was a celebrity, of course, but in these pages he is remembered as a loyal friend and a devoted family man. 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.

Seller Inventory # 00094454711

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Peter Jennings: A Reporter's Life
• Publisher: PublicAffairs,U.S.
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1586486446
• ISBN 13: 9781586486440
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

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.

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.