Blog Archives

Walter Cronkite, a leading US television news anchor, is born on this day in 1916. His friendly, professional style and relatively neutral politics made him “the most trusted man in America”  from the 1950s through his retirement in 1981. His work spanned front line radio coverage of World War II and television news from the Vietnam War to the space program and the new challenges of the environment. Cronkite grew up in Missouri, worked for newspapers and radio stations in the Midwest in the 1930s before joining CBS radio news in 1938. He was one of eight journalists selected by the United States Army Air Forces to fly bombing raids over Germany in a B-17 Flying Fortress as part of group called The Writing 69th.   As the anchor at CBS news, Cronkite covered most of the important events of the 1950s through the 1970s. Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, he said: “If in the search of our conscience we find a new dedication to the American concepts that brought no political, sectional, religious or racial divisions, then maybe it may yet be possible to say that John Fitzgerald Kennedy did not die in vain.” In his 1968 coverage of the Vietnam war, he said: “It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.”  Cronkite was also devoted to science and technology reporting, with the NASA space program one main focus but, increasingly, environmental science, both in a science TV program “Universe” and as an active advisory board member for the Society of Environmental Journalists.

David Helvarg, environmental journalist and author of books on ocean conservation, is born on this day in 1951.

Nature writer John Burroughs was born on this day in 1837, in Roxbury, New York. In his 1910 book,  In the Catskills, Burroughs wrote:  “Man made the city, and after he became sufficiently civilized, not afraid of solitude, and knew on what terms to live with nature, God promoted him to life in the country…”

Predicting Hurricane Katrina On this day in 2002, Mark Schliefstien and John McQuaid conclude a five-part newspaper series describing the impact of a Category 5 hurricane on the city of New Orleans — three years before a Category 5 hurricane named Katrina slammed into New Orleans. They publish a history of the Katrina disaster in 2006: “Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms.” The series won the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2003 Excellence in Media award and the 2003 National Hurricane Conference media award. And it was among the stories on coastal science issues that were honored in 2006 with a special award from the American Geophysical Union.

Kirkpatrick Sale, American environmentalist and author, born on this day in 1937.

George Orwell,  writer and journalist, is born on this day in 1903. Orwell’s insight into the twisting of the English language for totalitarian purposes, for example in his famous novel Nineteen Eighty Four, contributed to public understanding of propaganda techniques so frequently used in environmental debates. His 1946 essay, “Politics and the English Language” is an attack not only on bureaucratic language but also on the motives behind it. Arguing that Nineteen Eighty Four is an environmental novel,  Mike Mariott said: “The world Orwell created in 1984 (is) run down and exhausted. Look in the corners of his world and you will see the poverty and shambolic social services. What else do you see? The exclusive use of resources by the military and political elite at the expense of the populace; the stifling of voices who question this status quo … Every organ of the state exists to control the use of resources and keep the people compliant through violence, language and surveillance…”

Cornelius Krieghoff born this day in 1815. A Canadian landscape painter with a strong romantic streak, Krieghoff captured some of the highlights and lowbrow aspects of rural life.

Gobind Beheri Lal   A US based science writer originally from India,  Lal was born on this day in 1889.  Among people he interviewed were  Albert Einstein, Mohandas K. Gandhi, H. L. Mencken, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Enrico Fermi and Max Planck.  Lal shared the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting with John J. O’Neill, William L. Laurence, Howard W. Blakeslee and David Dietz. The group won the award for their coverage of science at the tercentenary of the Harvard University. He said his goal was to create a love of science among readers. 

Edwin Teale, Pulitzer-Prize winning author and naturalist, known for The American Seasons, born this day in 1899.

Jane Croly born this day in 1829. Croly was a journalist and founder of the Federation of Women’s Clubs. The clubs were primarily concerned with conservation and public health in the 1890 – 1920 period.