The Voice of America: Lowell Thomas and the Invention of 20th-Century Journalism

He shares Lowell Thomas’ love of travel and had the privilege of following Thomas' tracks through Colorado, Alaska, the Yukon, Europe, Arabia, Sikkim and Tibet. Stephens was a fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Mitchell Stephens, a professor of journalism in the Carter Institute at New York University, is the author of A History of News, a
Lawrence, which made him forever 'Lawrence of Arabia.'" Michael Korda, author of Hero“Mitchell Stephens’s The Voice of America is a first-rate and much-needed biography of the great Lowell Thomas. He was a man for all seasons." Tom Brokaw"An excellent book. Barnum and Walter Cronkite makes for first-rate reading." Booklist"Stephens captures the swashbuckling spirit of this early journalist an entertaining look at a unique journalist." Kirkus Reviews"Mitchell Stephen's The Voice of America is the fascinating story of Lowell Thomas, whose rise to media stardom is an adventuresome epic in itself, almost as much the story he weaved around the exploits of T.E. "Vivid and interesting." The Weekly Standard"Will take you into the fascinating life, times, and adventures of the man who was consid

ONE HELLUVA YARN America: just how did we get to be what we are? Or, maybe, what we think we are. One feeder stream has always been “the news.” The stream has fluctuated in character and content, still, it’s always been a mulligan stew—part fact, part fiction, part education, part titillation, and (a whopping large) part point of view. Not to mention what sublime news critic A.J. Liebling distinguished as its function: The role of journalism, said Liebling, is to report the ne. Adventurous and fearless, Lowell Thomas lived a dream. J. Zima Well-researched and with copious detail, as a lifelong journalist, I wondered why I had never heard of Lowell Thomas. I brought the book to my parents' house and sure enough, "He was famous," Mom said. Just goes to show you how many people who influenced world events slide into obscurity as the next generation matures -- until brought into view again.I wanted to cheer for Lowell but questionable decisions about finances made it hard in the opening chapters. No doubt he had chutzpah b. "This book makes you think!" according to Bruce Wark. This fascinating, beautifully crafted book on Lowell Thomas is both a biography of the man who was once America’s best-known journalist and a history of the transformations journalism itself underwent in the twentieth century.Mitchell Stephens shows again and again how Lowell Thomas embraced all the new technologies to tell his stories --- from portable typewriter and silent film to network radio, Fox Movietone newsreels, TV and even wide-screen Cinerama.In 19This book makes you think! Bruce Wark This fascinating, beautifully crafted book on Lowell Thomas is both a biography of the man who was once America’s best-known journalist and a history of the transformations journalism itself underwent in the twentieth century.Mitchell Stephens shows again and again how Lowell Thomas embraced all the new technologies to tell his stories --- from portable typewriter and silent film to network radio, Fox Movietone newsreels, TV and even wide-screen Cinerama.In 1941, at the height . 1, at the height

His was the trusted voice that kept Americans abreast of world events in turbulent decades – his face familiar, too, as the narrator of the most popular newsreels. Thomas delighted in entering “forbidden” countries—Tibet, for example, where he met the teenaged Dalai Lama. He began lecturing on Alaska, after spending eight days in Alaska. Then he assigned himself to report on World War I and returned with an exclusive: the story of “Lawrence of Arabia.” In 1930, Lowell Thomas began delivering America&rsq