David Brinkley died last night due to complications from a fall at his home in Houston.
Brinkley was one of my favorite journalists, with the ability to spin a yarn about mundane and amusing events that made them as interesting as world-changing news.
One of my favorite books, now dog-eared, is Brinkley’s “Washington Goes to War,” a fascinating anecdotal account of how Washington changed from sleepy backwater to international city during World War II. The stories in that book brought me closer to my hometown as I read about how it came to be what it is today. His autobiography is fascinating – even the stories of his childhood in North Carolina were intriguing and amusing.
I also keep at my desk his book “Everyone Is Entitled to My Opinion,” which is a collection of his trademark essays at the end of each “This Week” program. Since he left that show, it has floundered and lost it’s way. I’ve missed David Brinkley’s weekly visits for some time now. And now I’m afraid they’ll never come again.
Good night, David.
From October 30, 1994, an example of what made David Brinkley so invaluable:
In the race for a Senate seat from California, it appears that the two candidates–Dianne Feinstein and Michael Huffington–will set a new world record for campaign spending. Before it’s all over, $40 million, maybe? Or more?
So to run in a big state you have to be rich or have rich and generous friends. Michael Huffington doesn’t need generous friends. He has his family’s oil money and he’s been spending it hand over fist. He’s spending more than $20 million to win a job that in six years–if he wins–will yield less than one-twentieth of what the job cost him.
Is anyone who will make a financial deal like that qualified to handle the public’s money?
