Don McNeill and His Breakfast Club

By John Doolittle

Book Overview

Before morning talk radio, before Garrison Keillor and Lake Wobegon, before Oprah, Jay, Rosie, and Dave, there was Don McNeill and his Breakfast Club. From his first broadcast in June 1933 until his sign-off in December 1967, Don McNeill presided as emcee over his creation, along the way cultivating as widespread an audience and as long-lived a show as any that flourished in the decades when radio was the dominant source of news and entertainment in American life. McNeill's genius was to insist on an unscripted show produced before a studio audience. In that format, his spontaneous wit and genial manner, coupled with his good-natured banter with the Breakfast Club cast and audience, meshed beautifully into an uplifting show of emotional immediacy. Listeners tuned in at 8 a.m. to hear the first of four calls to breakfast; they knew to expect the March Around the Breakfast Table and such other regular features as the Moment of Silent Prayer and Memory Time. Through a mix of comedy, music, interviews, and upbeat moral encouragement - all centered around the everyday fixture of the breakfast table - McNeill both entertained his listeners and welcomed them as participants in a morning r

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0268008981
• ISBN13: 9780268008987
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Length: 247 Pages
• Weight: 2.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.2" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

A Man I've Wanted to Know More About

Although I am old enough to have been able to remember Don McNeill's Breakfast Club I have only heard of him, and wanted to learn more about this popular radio show. Author John Doolittle has done an excellent job in bringing out the personality of Don McNeill. Don was a devoted family man who, despite an extroverted personality when interviewing people, was more of an introvert away from the show. Don was devoted to the midwest and chose to keep his show in Chicago from various downtown locations. I would say the primary reason for the success of the show was his sincere interest in people in addition to his willingness to pay the price in preparation time. Those who filled in for him found out there is more involved than chatting with members of the studio audience. The silent prayer and the march around the breakfast table were interesting staples of this show that I wasn't aware of. Don McNeill was a sincere man both on the show and in his private life. The CD that came with the book I bought provides interesting snippets on some of his shows and was especially interesting to listen to after having read the book. Don McNeill was a giant of radio who had a lot to contribute to other people and did.

The history of a man and a program

The "Breakfast Club" was a morning radio program staple in hundreds of thousands of homes across America beginning in 1933 until its final broadcast in December of 1968. Don McNeill hosted this program which was completely unscripted and involved a lot of studio audience participation. Now John Doolittle has memorialized that unique and beloved radio show host and his program in Don McNeill And His Breakfast Club. Here is the history of a man and a program that developed an enormous and loyal listenership in an era when broadcast radio was the major daily mass media for information and culture in the country. Doolittle's informative, enthusiastically recommended history is enriched with the inclusion of an accompanying CD with sample clips from the show to give the reader an authentic flavor of what the program was like and why it became (and stayed) one of the most popular components of morning radio.

Another gift to American History

The Don McNeill Breakfast Club was a comfort of home, a memory of cherished moments sitting by the radio with my family. When I heard that a book had been written about the program I had high expectations. I was more impressed than I could have imagined. Not only did I feel a stronger sense of who Don McNeill was, I also gained perspective on American History through radio, which was so perfectly encompassed in The Breakfast Club. For anyone who remembers the lazy mornings by the radio, or for anyone who is interested in American culture and history, this book is a must!

GREAT "Call To Breakfast"!

As an old radio fan who recently disovered the true magic of the "Breakfast Club" program (and WHY aren't there more surviving recordings of the show in circulation among collectors?), I found Mr. Doolittle's new book to be filled with many interesting and informative bits of information....The "behind-the-scenes" workings of the radio show, the sponsor and network difficulties with the TV version, the careers of the various cast members, etc. I found the section regarding Kay McNeill's (Don's wife) mental and physical decline with Altzheimer's Disease to be particularly poignant, and quite heartbreaking...especially considering what a vibrant person she appeared to be in her appearances on "The Breakfast Club". True, some critics may criticize the book for being "sugar-coated", but it appears that there just wasn't enough "dirt" to dredge up. In a previous review, Mr. Slobb says that the book treats Don McNeill as if he were God...I respectfully disagree. The book deals with the differences in Mr. McNeill's public and private persona...How he could appear to be outgoing on the program and be quite withdrawn and sometimes even sullen in real life. However, the book also gets the point across that Don McNeill was basically a fine human being. If Mr. Slobb worked with Mr. McNeill for a number of years and his worst observation of Don McNeill is that he never spoke to Mr. Slobb or that Don gave him "cheap" Christmas presents, then I don't think that that really puts Mr. McNeill in the "ruthless S.O.B." category. Unlike fellow "morning man" Arthur Godfrey, who truly alienated his cast members and had some very ugly parting of the ways, Don seemed to have a friendly "open door" policy with the regulars....While most of them stayed with him for YEARS, some of the singers would leave to get married, raise families, tour on club dates, go into the service, etc. Most of them would return to fill-in when their replacements would be out sick or on vacation, and these "pinch-hitting" former regulars were always made to feel welcome. Sorry to digress from the book itself, but I felt that the above needed to be mentioned. I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Doolittle's fine book...I recommend it wholeheartily!

GREAT "Call To Breakfast"!

As an old-time radio fan who has just recently discovered the magic of Don McNeill's "Breakfast Club" program (and WHY aren't there more surviving recordings of this series currently in circulation among collectors?), I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Doolittle's new book. I found it to give fascinating and in-depth looks into the "behind-the-scenes" workings of the show, the network and sponsor difficulties with the TV version, and the careers and private lives of the McNeill family and the various cast members. I found the section regarding Kay McNeill's (Don's wife) mental and physical decline from Altzheimer's Disease to be particularly poignant and heartbreaking...especially considering what a vibrant person she seemed to be prior to her illness. In a previous review, Mr. Slobb criticizes the book for treating Don McNeill as if he were God...I respectfully disagree. The book deals with the two personas of Mr. McNeill....How he could seem outgoing on the program and be quite introverted, even sullen, in real life. However, after reading the book one gets the impression that Don McNeill was basically a fine person. After working with Mr. McNeill for a number of years and numerous broadcasts, Mr. Slobb's complaints are that Don McNeill never spoke to him, or that Don gave Mr. Slobb "cheap" Christmas presents....I don't think that those issues really put Don McNeill into the "ruthless S.O.B" category. Unlike fellow "morning man" Arthur Godfrey, who truly alienated his cast members and had some very ugly parting of the ways, most of Don McNeill's regulars stayed with him for YEARS. There were male and female singers who would leave the show to get married and raise families, tour on club dates, go into the service, etc. Don had a friendly "open-door" policy with these departed singers.....Most of them would return to fill in when their replacements would be out sick, on vacation, etc., and these "pinch-hitting" former regulars were always made to feel welcome. I'm sorry to digress from the book itself, but I felt that the preceding needed to be said. I found this book to be enlightening, interesting, inspiring and a LOT of fun...sort of like an actual "Breakfast Club" broadcast! I recommend it highly!