Marshall, Chester; Halloran, Ray "Hap'

HAP'S WAR [Signed and inscribed to Jim Lehrer] [with] SIGNED PHOTOGRAPSH AND EPHEMERA

Global Press, 1998. Small quarto, 168 pages. In Very Good condition with Very Good dust jacket. Light blue spine with white lettering. Very light shelfwear to dust jacket and boards. Signed with a lengthy inscription to Jim Lehrer, in which Halloran congratulates Lehrer for his recently published novel ("The Special Prisoner"). Includes assortment of signed photographs and ephemera. Shelved at Rockville Room E.

1412878

Special Collections - Upstairs

Price: $350

NOTES

Jim Lehrer (1934-2020) was an American journalist and writer known for his contributions to public media and journalistic style. Born in Wichita, Kansas, his family moved to Texas during his youth. He attended community college at Victoria College before earning his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. After college, he joined the Marine Corps for three years in the late 1950s, following in the footsteps of his father and older brother.

Lehrer's journalism career formally began in 1959, becoming a reporter for both the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times-Herald. Over the next seven years, Lehrer covered local politics, including the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In 1968, he became the city editor of the Times-Herald.

Lehrer's television career, like his journalism career, was launched in Dallas as the executive director of Public Affairs for KERA-TV. In 1972, he moved to PBS in Washington, D.C. to work as a correspondent for NPACT, the National Public Affairs Center for Television. Lehrer rose to national prominence in 1973 following his reporting on the Watergate scandal with his journalism partner Robert MacNeil. The two established The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, which became NewsHour with Jim Lehrer upon MacNeil's retirement. In 2009, the program was renamed PBS NewsHour, the name that remains to this day.

In addition to his broadcast journalism, Lehrer was additionally known for his fiction and for moderating presidential debates. He authored twenty-one novels, three memoirs, four plays, and three screenplays, including TENSION CITY (2011) and TOP DOWN (2013). Between 1988 and 2012, Lehrer moderated twelve presidential debates for PBS, where he became known for his hands-off tactic to moderation. Reaction to his approach was mixed, with some praising his choice to let candidates speak, while others complained of excessive leniency.

After retiring from PBS in 2011, he continued to make guest appearances on NewsHour and moderated the first presidential debate in the 2012 election. His journalism has won many awards, including two Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. Part of his legacy includes "Lehrer/MacNeil journalism," the form of journalism the pair practiced on NewsHour. This style prioritizes objectivity, context, and respect for both the subject and audience while rejecting sensationalism and requiring clear separation between fact, analysis, and opinion. Lehrer passed from a heart attack in his home in Washington, D.C. in January of 2020 at the age of 85. He is survived by his wife of sixty years, writer Kate Lehrer, and their three children.