It seems like ages and ages since former NBC anchor/author of The Greatest Generation Tom Brokaw was in town. After a bit of head scratching, it seems that the last time he was in these here parts was back in 2010 to interview Bob Schieffer for the MD Anderson Cancer Center’s “A Conversation with a Living Legend.” And even then he wasn’t the center of attention.
Leave it to the VNA to change that. The 2015 Legends & Leaders Luncheon Co-Chairs Linda and Jay Barlow, Angie and Marshall Brackbill and Jan and Al McClendon just revealed they’ve locked down Tom for the Thursday, April 23, fundraiser at the Hilton Anatole.
Not only that but the honorary co-chairs are Sally and Forrest Hoglund!
It benefits the VNA that is busier than ever. Most folks know about their Meals on Wheels program, but there’s so much more (Hospice Care, Private Car, Pet Care Program, Senior Resources, etc.).
Just in case, you need to brush up on your Tom Brokaw file…after all, it is pretty lengthy, follow the jump for his bio.
* Photo provided by VNA
Tom Brokaw has spent his entire distinguished journalism career with NBC News beginning in 1966 in the Los Angeles bureau where he covered Ronald Reagan’s first run for public office, the rise of the Sixties counter culture, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy and the 1968 presidential campaign.
From Los Angeles, Brokaw went to Washington as the White House correspondent during Watergate and as the principal back up for John Chancellor as anchor of NBC Nightly News. Next stop: New York and TODAY followed by his appointment as anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.
He took over Meet the Press for the 2008 campaign when his close friend and colleague Tim Russert died.
In addition to his daily news gathering responsibilities, Brokaw reported on more than thirty documentaries covering subjects ranging from AIDS, Los Angeles gangs, race, education, medicine, immigration and global warming.
He has an impressive list of firsts, including the first interview with Mikhail Gorbachev; the first network report on human rights abuses in Tibet accompanied by an exclusive interview with the Dali Lama; the only American network anchor to report from Berlin the night the Berlin wall came down.
In 1998 Brokaw published his first book, The Greatest Generation, one of the most popular non-fiction books of the 20th century. He followed that with five other books, including BOOM! Voices Of The Sixties and, most recently, The Time Of Our Lives.
He is also a popular essayist for publications ranging from The New York Times to Rolling Stone and a wide assortment of other periodicals and newspapers.
Brokaw has won every major award in his craft, including Peabody, Duponts, Emmys and lifetime achievement recognition. In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded Brokaw with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.