The endangered culture of books, truth-based journalism and public broadcasting burned brightly Wednesday night as a rainstorm rumbled outside in Midtown Atlanta.
In a warm homecoming event at the Atlanta History Center’s Margaret Mitchell House, author Steve Oney captivated a full audience gathered in appreciation of his comprehensive history of National Public Radio, “ On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR.”
The Georgia native in a conversation with esteemed TV anchorman John Pruitt discussed his challenges in writing the book and told engaging stories about famed NPR journalists.
Oney in the centerpiece of the evening recalled one of the book’s most compelling chapters, the poignant career of the late Anne Garrels, NPR’s heroic Iraq War reporter who left the network after a psychological breakdown.
A longtime writer for Los Angeles Magazine, the University of Georgia Grady School of Journalism graduate began his career writing for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Sunday magazine.
He’s the author of “And the Dead Shall Rise,” the definitive account of the Leo Frank lynching case.
Old friends, former journalistic colleagues and admirers greeted Oney to the renovated apartment where Mitchell wrote “Gone With the Wind.”
As Oney noted, she also wrote for the then Atlanta Journal Sunday magazine, no longer published.
Oney in decrying GOP plans to end funding for NPR said he believes the radio network makes Americans less lonely.
Members of his audience felt that way as well.
