Lone Star: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Dan Rather

By Alan Weisman

Book Overview

"Alan Weisman has come as close as anyone to unraveling one of the big mysteries of the television age: who is the real Dan Rather? Weisman has devoted much time, energy, and talent to that question, and this book is a fascinating read."
--Robert Pierpoint, former CBS News correspondent

"There is no career in modern television journalism that is more fascinating, complicated, controversial, or accomplished than that of Dan Rather, and there is no one who has focused the attention of colleagues, TV writers, competitors, and, of course, critics to a similar degree over the last twenty-five years. Alan Weisman's lively account of this remarkable life explains why the quest to understand Rather has remained so vital and important."
--Verne Gay, television critic, Newsday

"This book is an attempt to take a few steps back from Memogate and examine the whole picture -- the scope and breadth of Dan Rather's life, career, and times. If he mattered enough to be watched by untold millions of people for fifty years on television, then his story matters enough to be told as fully as possible."
--From Lone Star: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Dan Rather

Dan Rather has been watched on television by millions for half a century; his remarkable career has covered and, in many ways, mirrored the turbulence of the last four decades. His reporting helped shape the world's perceptions of major events such as the assassination of President Kennedy, the civil rights struggle, the Vietnam War, Watergate, 9/11, and the war in Iraq. To his fans and supporters, he is praised for his dedication to quality journalism and he is seen as the worthy heir to Edward R. Murrow. To his critics, he has pushed a liberal political agenda and his real life has belied his carefully crafted wholesome image. The question has puzzled millions for decades: who is the real Dan Rather?

Lone Star is the first biography to bring Dan

Rather to life while examining the full scope

and breadth of his impact on the world. In

this book, longtime CBS News writer and

producer Alan Weisman presents a fresh,

balanced look at the controversial newsman

who defeated overwhelming odds when he

succeeded Walter Cronkite as CBS News

anchorman and whose newscast was #1 for

almost a decade but whose fall from grace

was the swiftest and steepest in the history

of television.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471792179
• ISBN13: 9780471792178
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Interesting Insight Into a Complex Person

For anyone who watched Dan Rather with any regularity, this is definitely an interesting and insightful book about the man and the behind-the-scenes workings of CBS. From growing up in Texas to covering Vietnam to his final days in the anchor chair, you get a look at Dan Rather the man versus Dan Rather the reporter/anchor, and not all of it is favorable. Weisman's account of things is pretty fair to all parties involved, shows multiple viewpoints and allows the reader to make their own judgements. Of particular interest is his accounts of what went on at CBS when the corporate structures were changed and how it affected Rather. The only real problem I have with this book is that it seems like it is really only giving a summary of Rather's life instead of a detailed account. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.

CBS up close

Excellent glimse inside of the workings of CBS News and the legendary Dan Rather.

A pro writes about a pro

Everybody knows the name of Dan Rather, the reporter who appeared on the radar screen at JFK's assassination and rose to CBS News favored son status reporting from Vietnam, the White House, hurricane lamp posts, the CBS News anchor chair and virtually every hot spot around the world, but most people have never heard of Alan Weisman, the author of "LONE STAR: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Dan Rather." For those in the broadcast news business, Alan Weisman -- hands down -- is the finest producer who ever walked the halls of CBS News. There is no contest here. Intelligent, industrious, creative, insightful, witty, thorough and totally uncompromising, over the years he probably irritated as many higher-ups as he created awestruck fans in the trenches. Weisman decided up front his book would be a professional-only work. He does not engage in petty gossip about Dan Rather. Instead he chooses to focus on more serious matters - on the man and the institution which he shaped and which in turn shaped him. It is a fascinating inside look, a view available only through the prism of an experienced insider. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to take the tour in the hands of a total professional.