Happy birthday, Dave! (And happy birthday, us!)

Today is a day that should be celebrated everywhere, with cake and ice cream for everybody, for it was on this day in 1913 that our beloved Dave Garroway was born. Not to mention, it was on this day in 2017 that this website was officially launched. It was a birthday tribute to Dave, a way of keeping his memory alive in a world where he’s so often been forgotten.

Five years ago, if you’d asked me if the book would be completed by now, I’d have told you that I hoped it would be, but it was a tall order. I’d love to get the James Webb Space Telescope to look back five years and tell me “yes, it will be.”1 The book is being proof-read; I’ll make whatever alterations are advised, and then it’ll be off for layout and the next steps, and of course I’ll say more about that when the time is right.

The end of the writing process is so much of why it’s been quiet here, but I thought we’d celebrate Dave’s birthday by taking a look at some favorite pictures I’ve accumulated over the years. For various reasons, none of these will be in the book2 but there’s no reason why we can’t take a few minutes here to enjoy them.

Happy birthday, Old Tiger.

The principals of the Chicago School pose for a family portrait. Our Dave is in a typically relaxed pose on the couch. (NBC photo)
Nearly two decades later, Garroway returns to the Chicago studio to appear in a special. (NBC photo)
A younger Garroway goofs around for the photographer in a Chicago studio. (NBC photo)
On top of the news in the RCA Exhibition Hall. (NBC photo)
My favorite photo that I couldn’t get for the book: daughter Paris visiting dad at work. (NBC photo)
Reviewing a “Dave Garroway Show” script with cast members Shirley Harmer and Jill Corey. (NBC photo)
Publicity shot for “Dave’s Place,” his November 1960 prime-time special. (NBC photo)
The lights down, another “Today” comes to an end. (NBC photo)
  1. By the way, can you imagine just HOW fascinated Dave would be with the incredible imagery we’re getting back from the James Webb Space Telescope? I know very little about cosmology and yet each new image has left me without words. What a wonder it is that we can do such marvelous things, and what a time it is to be alive to watch them happen, and what a marvelous gift that observatory is to all of us.
  2. Though I can promise you that the pictures I was able to get for the book are all very good, and some of them I can’t believe I was able to get, but I did and you will be happy.