Norman Corwin and radio [electronic resource] : the golden years / R. LeRoy Bannerman ; foreword by Erik Barnouw.

ISBN:

9780817382582

Title:

Author:

Bannerman, R. LeRoy, 1921-

Personal Author:

Bannerman, R. LeRoy, 1921-

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 275 pages) : illustrations

Contents:

Photographs; Foreword; Acknowledgments; 1. The Era: The Man and the Golden Age; 2. The Beginning: An Old-World Heritage; 3. The City: Publicity to Poetry; 4. The Network: A Liberal Mountain; 5. The Series: Deadline Times Twenty-Six; 6. The Anniversary: Bill of Rights Show; 7. The War: Radio to Arms; 8. The Challenge: Dedication and Dreams; 9. The Assignment: Pursuit of Peace; 10. The Victory: On a Note of Triumph; 11. The World: Flight of Unity; 12. The Art: Beginning of the End; 13. The Blacklist: Cast of Concern; 14. The Future: Of Film, Footlights, and Philosophy.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Personal Subject:

Corwin, Norman, 1910-2011.

Subject Term:

Radio producers and directors -- United States -- Biography.

Radio broadcasting -- United States -- History.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

1986

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
791.4402320924 19	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Norman Corwin is regarded as the most acclaimed creative artist of radio's Golden Age (mid 1930s to late 1940s). Corwin worked as a producer for CBS at a time when radio was the centerpiece of American family life. His programs brought high moments to the medium during a period when exceptional creativity and world crisis shaped its character and conviction. Bannerman's book is more than biography: it is also social history--the story of network radio, its great achievements and ultimate decline. Many of Corwin's programs are considered radio classics. During World War II his programs energized the people and marshaled morale. We Hold These Truths, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the American Bill of Rights, was broadcast eight days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and On a Note of Triumph , a VE-Day special for CBS, marked the historic culmination of a momentous conflict. Bannerman's work is a portrayal of a remarkable man, who led an influential fight for the art and integrity of broadcasting, who endured unfounded accusations during the blacklisting period of the McCarthy era, and who by his dedication accomplished significant programs of historic dimensions.

Author Notes

R. Leroy Bannerman is Professor of Telecommunications at Indiana University at Bloomington.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

This chronicle of a lost moment of socially conscious radio programming as seen from the point of view of Corwin, one of its more famous practitioners, is a useful antidote to the American amnesia with respect to broadcasting. Bannerman (Indiana University) has written a traditional life-and-times biography set in what has come to be known as radio's ``golden years,'' (1939 to 1955), a term that betrays the main, if charming, flaw in an important book: a worshipful posture toward its subject. A career that unfolded in the studios of commercial network radio, in the hearing rooms of congressional committees in search of Communists, in the service of the Office of War Information during WW II, and in an interlude with the UN Radio also illuminates the entire era of the last days of radio as a source of ideas and information. The author interviewed Corwin himself and had access to his personal papers, along with trade papers and other primary materials. He could not penetrate the inaccessible archives of the network broadcasters and advertising agencies who actually made most of the programming and business decisions. The records of the Federal Communications Commission and wartime agencies such as the Office of War Information might have shed light on the industry to which Corwin gave much of his life. Nonetheless, this book on Corwin is an important addition to a notably uncrowded field. Graduate students and general readers.-T. Cripps, Morgan State University