Tick... Tick... Tick... (37 page)

Sussman, Jack, 284

 

Taylor, Lawrence, 275

Tedesco, Kevin, 268

TelePrompTer, 12

television

cameras (
see
cameras)

early news shows on, 10–11

film and, 23, 44

Don Hewitt's innovations, 11–14, 23

news-gathering (
see
news-gathering methods)

three-dimensional, 270

Tell Me About Women
(novel), 34

Tell Me a Story
(book), 13, 25, 293

terminology, Don Hewitt and, 14

terrorism stories, 229–30, 237, 262

30
Minutes
show idea, 4, 292

Thomas, Clarence, 76, 201–3

Thompson, Hunter S., 126, 201

three-dimensional television, 270

ticking sound, 42

Tiffin, John, 171

Tisch, Laurence, 167, 172, 177, 206, 208, 217

tobacco industry story, 32, 206–15, 259

Today Show
, 34, 79, 219, 271

tortious interference, 207–8

Tracy, Spencer, 121

Travis, Larry, 134–35

Tripp, Linda, 222, 224

Turning Point
(show), 206

20
/
20 (show), 114, 118, 134, 206

 

Up to the Minute
(show), 146

used-car salesmen story, 186–87

 

vacation month, 240, 275–77

Van Zahn, Peter, 37

Venice story, 47

Viacom, 282, 290

videotape, 44

Vieira, Meredith, 166–67, 177–78, 184–92, 295

Vietnam War stories, 48, 53–54, 60–61, 64–65, 147–49

von Auersperg, Alexander, 161

von Auersperg Kneissl, Ala, 161

von Bulow, Claus, 161

Von Hoffman, Nicholas, 66, 124

 

Wagner, Billy, 94–95

Wagner, Robert F., 32

Waksal, Sam, 271, 275

Waldron, Martin, 93–94

Walker, Dan, 158–59

Wallace, Chris, 31, 221

Wallace, George, 43

Wallace, Jane, 166

Wallace, Mike

age of, 235

ambush interviews, 77–82

background of, 31–34

Ed Bradley and, 138–39

Johnny Carson story, 121–22

conflicts and, 116, 138–39, 142

health issues of, 111–12, 163–65, 196–97, 265–68

fake IDs story, 97–101

first 60
Minutes
season, 36–49

Don Hewitt and, 2–3, 5–6, 53, 55–56, 113, 147, 164, 212–14, 258–60, 275–77, 290–92

hidden camera and Medicaid fraud stories, 107–11, 133–36

Clint Hill story, 88–91

on Michael Jackson story, 288

Lyndon Johnson story, 53–54

Barry Lando and, 56–61

memoir, 30, 81, 149, 294

Richard Nixon and, 2, 6, 30, 40–41, 62–63

Nuclear Regulatory Commission story, 101–6

pilot with, 29–30

racist comment, 146–47

Dan Rather and, 87

Morley Safer and, 53–55, 143, 170–71

salary of, 150, 237

Diane Sawyer and, 169–70

Phil Scheffler and, 254

sexual harassment and, 76

60
Minutes II
and, 220

as star, 70–71, 111

stories by, 80–82, 131, 189, 229–30, 273, 275

tobacco industry story, 206–15

Meredith Vieira and, 178, 187–88

William C. Westmoreland story, 147–49, 163–64

Wallace, Peter, 31, 33

Walsh, Elsa, 178, 187, 295

Walters, Barbara, 75, 114, 128, 271

Watergate scandal, 62, 65–67, 69–70, 77, 80–82, 86, 194

Weaver, Mary, 10, 73

Weekend
(show), 114

Welch, Jack, 229

Wenner, Jann, 75–76

We're Going to Make You a Star
(book), 74, 295

Wershba, Joseph, 53, 57, 91–94

West, Betsy, 3, 231–32, 235–36, 242, 245, 257, 272–73, 282

West
57
th
(show), 165–67, 177, 179

Westin, Av, 118–19

Westinghouse, 208, 217

Westmoreland, William C., 147–49, 163–64

White, Theodore H., 21

White House, 62–63, 66, 86–87, 126, 194–95.
See also
Kennedy, John F.; Nixon, Richard M.

Whitlow, Bill, 186–87

Who Killed CBS?
(book), 168, 294

Who's Who
(show), 112, 130, 271

Why Man Creates
(movie), 38

Wicker, Tom, 57

Wigand, Jeffrey, 206–15, 259

Willey, Kathleen, 77, 221–27, 287–88

Williams, Palmer, 38, 39–40, 139, 231

Wolfe, Tom, 141

Wolzein, Tom, 275

women

sexual harassment and, 73–77, 221–27

on 60
Minutes
staff, 39, 177, 187–92, 193

Wood, Robert, 83

Woodward, Bob, 194

work, passion for, 196–97

World News Tonight
(show), 208

World Trade Center attack.
See
terrorism stories

Writers Guild of America, 172

writing

Ed Bradley and, 202

Don Hewitt's, 131

producers and, 71

Andy Rooney's (
see
Rooney, Andy)

Morley Safer's, 68–69, 123

story development, 44, 55–56, 115

Wussler, Robert, 16–17

Wyman, Thomas, 167

 

Yeltsin, Boris, 204

youth-oriented stories, 218, 275

 

Zapruder, Abraham, 22–23, 85

Ziegler, Ron, 155

Zirinsky, Susan, 282

Acknowledgments

Don Hewitt agreed to cooperate with this book before I even had a publisher, and without any control over its content. He encouraged friends and associates to talk to me, and opened many doors. For his courage and willingness to do so, I'm enormously grateful. The decision of Andrew Heyward, the president of CBS News, to lend his approval to this project—again, with no promises made in return—made a huge difference to my efforts. I owe special thanks to Ed Bradley, Jeffrey Fager, Patti Hassler, Josh Howard, Steve Kroft, Dan Rather, Andy Rooney, Morley Safer, Diane Sawyer, Bob Simon, Meredith Vieira, Mike Wallace, and Betsy West for contributing their time to my
60 Minutes
education. To the rest of the vast
60 Minutes
and CBS News family, both present and former, who helped me along the way, many thanks. Thanks also to Gil Schwartz and Kevin Tedesco for their assistance.

My eternal gratitude goes to Alice Martell, for her incomparable gifts as an agent and as a human being.

Thanks to David Hirshey, my friend and editor, whose smart judgments shaped every page; to Nick Trautwein for his thoughtful insights and superior editing skills; and to Larkin Warren, for her valuable editorial input. I'm also grateful for the research assistance of Kate Pickert and Jacqueline Reeves.

I got ideas, suggestions, diversion, and the feigned appearance of interest in my endless chatter about
60 Minutes
from many family members and friends. I owe them thanks: Bill Abrams, Tony Gilroy, Bill Hamilton, Neal Jacobsen, Donald Katz, David Koepp, Leslie Larson, Jane Mayer, Joan and Howard Minsky, Jeffrey Minsky, Maura Minsky, Olya Minsky, Patricia Morrisroe, Julie Salamon, Joanna Scheier, Melissa Thomas, Michael Wadman, and Matt Wagner. Peter Cohn read an early draft and gave me valuable notes and suggestions. Thanks to Mary Fontenelle and Tom Carr for their ongoing help to my family and me.

The idea for this book came from my father, Albert Blum, an extraordinary historian and teacher. I'm grateful for the inspiration he's given me over the years. My brother, Steven, offered considerable help and kindness along the way.

My children, Sam and Annie, knew just the right moment to say “tick . . . tick . . . tick . . .” for maximum amusement. They frequently kept my priorities straight by shifting my attention to the New York Mets' pennant prospects, or my favorite
American Idol
contestant.

Oh yes, and about Terri Minsky: her love, support, and faith in me have made more things possible than I ever dreamed of, including this book.

About the Author

D
AVID
B
LUM
has written regularly for
New York Magazine, Esquire
, and the
New York Times Magazine
, and is the author of
Flash in the Pan: The Life and Death of an American Restaurant
. He is the television critic for the
New York Sun
and teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He lives with his wife and children in New York City.

 

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LSO BY
D
AVID
B
LUM

Flash in the Pan: The Life and Death of an American Restaurant

Copyright

A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2004 by HarperCollins Publishers.

TICK . . . TICK . . . TICK . . .
Copyright © 2004, 2005 by David Blum. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

First Harper paperback published 2005.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN-10: 0-06-055802-4 (pbk.)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-055802-4 (pbk.)
Epub Edition © AUGUST 2012 ISBN: 9780062047700

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