Larry Kanes Philadelphia

by Larry Kane

Book Overview

Larry Kane arrived in Philadelphia to take a job as a radio broadcaster in 1966. These are his reminiscences, covering everything from government and politics to the trials of a journalist trying to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566398061
• ISBN13: 9781566398060
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A Good Book from Philadelphia Mainstay

Being from the Philadelphia area, I was pretty intrested in what Larry Kane would write about. Larry tells good stories and helped me fill in what little details on stories that were reported when I was a kid.You almost have to cheer on a guy who went back to Phildephia to report news despite it being a "smaller market" than New York.If you don't really know the Philadelphia area you my be lost reading this but if you know Philadelphia , you'll be pleasantly suprised at how detailed this is and even laugh out loud at a good Ed Rendell anticdote

Philadelphia TV Icon

A great book for those interested in recent Philadelphia history and culture, or those just looking for an insight into major market TV news. The book seems to reflect Larry's on screen persona: fast paced, open, sometimes cloying, but never dull. Larry's seen a lot of history in his career, and relates it in a highly entertaining book.

Great, easy flowing read!

Larry Kane is such a familiar personality in the Phila. area as a TV anchor for all three Phila stations at one time or another but surprises abound in this book. Kane has managed to capture the heart and spirit of Philadelphia politics and the communities. I couldn't put this book down after just picking it up and thinking it was the same old, same old. Not a chance! The pace flows in this book and the insider's look at Phila. politics as well as the news stations is incredibly fascinating. You actually feel as though you were there. I highly recommend this book - even if you never lived in Phila. or its surrounding areas - this is an extremely interesting insider's view of politics and tv news. The author also speaks with great candor of his personal insecurities concerning his looks. This really was interesting as most people in the area (obviously we're referring to females here) speak of him as an extremely handsome individual! Always interesting to see how other's perspectives of themselves is different than that perceived by others. Definitely could not put this one down. Interesting insights with crazy politics, personal struggles and career decisions, etc. told with wit, warmth and style. A very charismatic writer who makes you want to hear more, more, more!

Fascinating Tour de Force

"Larry Kane's Philadelphia" is a uniquely rich tapestry of power and the powerful in a 20th century American city. Larry Kane propels the reader through three decades with understanding, insight, and a cub reporter's enthusiasm. Woven throughout the book are fascinating and highly personal anecdotes of the events and the people who made an unforgettable impact on us all. John Lennon. Three Mile Island. Hand grenades exploding inside a restaurant in Arab East Jerusalem. Rioting that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. And even more one-of-a-kind stories about the famous of Philadelphia: Frank Rizzo, Ed Rendell, James H. J. Tate, and more. Most revealing is Kane's anatomy of the most crushing event of his career. The WCAU-TV broadcast of allegations against then-Mayor Bill Green, the retraction of the story, the lawsuit that followed, and the ostracism he experienced inside his own newsroom for a story steamrollered on the air by an egotistic general manager. My favorite part of the book is an anecdote about me, and the price I paid as a newscast producer for cutting the time of legendary weatherman Jim O'Brien's on-air segment. You can read about it on page 81. But every reader will find plenty that's special and memorable in "Larry Kane's Philadelphia."

A Honest Look Inside Local News

Everyone has some point of view about local news and its value to our society or its impending decline. But, few have had an insiders seat on the evolution of local news as seen from the anchor chair. In his memoir of his years in television ,Larry Kane offers a brutually honest view of life in the same city for three decades. It is a wide ranging approach that includes the high and mighty from Frank Rizzo and the venerable liberal, Senator Joe Clarke to the confused and stormy reigns of Mayor Wilson Goode and Bill Green. Kane explores the relationship between politician and anchor in away not found in other books. He doesn't judge them as much as explain their challenges and how they conquered their inner demons or exorcised them. And he is no less tough on his own colleagues who ran the three stations were he served. News chiefs with willowed spines get their due , as do those who made unpopular decisions to serve Philadelphia. When they stood by him they are treated well, but when an obvious wrong was done, Kane offers vivid recollections of closed door meetings that you rarely get from a practicing journalist. Still this not at all a book of wrath. Kane carefully balances the things that matter to his community with the personality clashes that propel other memoirs.His accounting of the MOVE crisis in 1985 and the Rizzo years are as valuable as any historians more traditional approach. And there is warmth here as well. Kane always had a common man's touch and it shows up here. He treats media phenoms ,like d.j. cum anchor, Jim Obrien with great care. And his telling of how he revered the legendary oldies disc jockey, Jerry Blavat is a classic in character definition. His sense of proportion about people is also right on , no one is given too much space whether its the Beatles or this reviewer. Everything has its place and purpose. For a guy who has spent his life in an anchor chair there is a richness and value here found in few other television books.If you think anchors are hair sprayed blowhards, Kane's book will change that view. And all readers will get a very special tour of his city that destroys the classic Philadelphia cliches. This is one honest, tough and balanced account from a weathered newsman. Steve Cohen Salt Lake City