Events Leading Up to My Death: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Reporter [Hardcover]

Howard K. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

The life of preeminent journalist Howard K. Smith follows the launching of the ""Murrow's Boys"" broadcast from Berlin, his narrow escape in December 1941, and his postwar achievements with CBS and ABC. 50,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Upon graduation from Tulane, Smith (born in Louisiana in 1914) began working as a reporter on the New Orleans Item. He soon won a Rhodes Scholarship and found himself at Oxford on the eve of WW II. In this exciting autobiography, Smith, known to millions as an urbane and astute network anchorman, tells his story through the great historical events of the century. At the outbreak of the war, he left Oxford to work for the United Press's Berlin office. He relates the arrogance of the Nazis and how they refused to let him broadcast for his new employer, CBS Radio, and kept him from leaving the country. The Nazis finally relented and, on December 6, 1941, he went to Switzerland. Smith tells wonderful stories about covering the Allied race across Europe; being CBS's voice in Berlin after the war; reporting on the Nuremburg trials; his relationship with Edward R. Murrow; and his easy transition to TV. He goes on to describe leaving CBS (over civil rights reporting) and working at ABC, covering JFK and LBJ and his run-ins with Richard Nixon ("President Jekyll"). Smith's humanity, warmth and humor shine through in this superb memoir. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A Rhodes scholar who studied at Oxford and Heidelberg, the Louisiana-born Smith has had a glowing career in what he calls "the rough drafting of history"; he does it here superbly. A wire service reporter in Berlin, he became one of Ed Murrow's "boys" at CBS News during World War II, distinguishing himself with his coverage of the Nuremberg war crimes trials. Returning to the United States, he did TV commentaries for CBS, only to be forced out in a dispute with network executives over the contents of a civil rights documentary on events in Birmingham. Next came ABC News and more distinction as a political commentator; his astute assessments of every president since FDR are alone worth the price of the book. Strongly recommended.?Chet Hagan, Berks Cty. P.L. Sys., Pa.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 419 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312139705
• ISBN-13: 978-0312139704
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,539,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Memoir, Solid Journalist, June 16, 2008

By 

K.A.Goldberg (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Events Leading Up to My Death: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Reporter (Paperback)

This warm and insightful 1997 memoir by Howard K Smith (1914-2002) is worth reading. Smith describes his Louisiana upbringing, his Depression-era studies at Tulane and as a Rhodes Scholar, and his 60-years in journalism. Smith also describes covering Nazi Germany for Ed Murrow and CBS Radio during the war (1940-1941). Leaving Germany just before Pearl Harbor, Smith kept broadcasting from neutral Switzerland, writing LAST TRAIN FROM BERLIN about his experiences. After the war, the author helped usher in television news, moderated the first Kennedy-Nixon Presidential debate, covered civil rights protests, etc. Smith also describes leaving CBS in a dispute, and moving to ABC, where his fatherly voice and reasoned commentaries made him a fixture. Readers also learn his views on LBJ, Vietnam, Nixon, etc. Some criticized Smith for tilting rightward from his early liberalism (he was pro-Vietnam), but he was usually a voice of calm and reason.

This book never took off in sales, but it is as warm and informative as the author. Readers might also enjoy memoirs from other CBS journalists like William L. Shirer, Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, etc.