A tribute to the original Master Communicator
In 1960, with the 100th anniversary of the Civil War coming up, Alec Wilder put together a work inspired by the works of Civil War historian Bruce Catton. The piece, titled Names From the War, featured a pair of New York quintets and a choral group. Narrating it was none other than Dave Garroway. Thanks to the Wilderworld Podcast, you can listen to it here.
On this weekend, when we remember those who gave their lives, take the time to listen to this beautiful piece…and as you listen, remember.
As work continues on the manuscript (now more than 14,000 words, by the way), sometimes it’s useful to take a break and watch a video or two. In that spirit, here’s a little offering of interest: a clip from the 1948 film I Surrender, Dear. The entire clip is interesting because it gives you a glimpse into what radio was like in the immediate postwar years, but the last minute or so is really interesting for our purposes. Take a look and enjoy.
Since it’s Easter Sunday, what better time to explore the beautiful word that was Dave Garroway’s benediction?
Charlie Andrews, who was Dave’s favorite writer and best friend, told the Archive in his lengthy interview that “peace” came from a preacher out of Philadelphia that Garroway took to listening to. This preacher would give these energetic sermons and would use the benediction, “Peace! It’s wonderful.” Garroway took a liking to “peace!” and adopted it as his own.1
But who was that preacher? The second clue comes from Richard Gehman’s 1961 TV Guide profile of Garroway2, which cites the benediction’s origin as borrowed from “Father Divine.” A little search engine magic does the rest, and you soon learn of the Reverend Major Jealous Divine, who indeed ran his ministry from Philadelphia starting in 1942 and employed the exhortation “Peace! It’s wonderful.” His story is much too interesting and wide-ranging for me to try to encapsulate here, so maybe it’s better if you consult this rundown of Father Divine’s life and times. Don’t miss his many interesting connections to other cultural phenomena, including a famous Johnny Mercer composition inspired by one of Father Divine’s sermons.
During the run-up to the premiere of Today, Dave Garroway made guest appearances on some NBC programs. In the process, he got to match wits with some comedy legends. Here’s Dave paying a visit to Bob and Ray in the week before Today‘s premiere:
Maybe it’s me, but in that sketch Bob looks a lot like Pat Weaver and Ray reminds me of Today‘s first newsman, Jim Fleming.
Another preserved bit captures Dave’s January 6, 1952 visit to Fred Allen’s program. It’s a real treat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db9YFL0htlg
I’m working on a very special post for the 14th, to commemorate that first morning. In the meantime, enjoy the clips!
We here at Garroway at Large World Headquarters have to apologize for the lapse. The culprit was the other manuscript on which I was working. The good news is, it was submitted to a prospective publisher last week. The bad news? It’s left my writing impulses a little depleted, and I’ve yet to recover the energy needed to do one of the in-depth pieces of the sort we’ve recently featured here.
Instead, here’s a little moment of wonder that never fails to lift my spirits. Here’s Chicago School-era Dave stopping by to visit his friends Kukla, Fran and Ollie. Whatever’s in your head right now, whatever worries you may have, put them aside, click “play,” and let these few minutes of kinescope footage work their magic.
I was working on another post for today until I remembered that October 16 is a special day. For it was on this date in 1955 that Dave Garroway welcomed us to Wide Wide World. The ambitious program, which had aired as a special presentation earlier in 1955, made its regularly-scheduled debut on October 16.
Not much Wide Wide World footage is available, and not even the entirety of the debut is out there to see. But about 60 out of those first 90 minutes is available, starting below. Take the time to watch it, and think about how the remotes we take for granted today seemed like a miracle in 1955.
Latest addition to my little Garroway museum: Harvey Kurtzman’s Help!, December 1960. (You can read the entire issue, and a few others, here.)
Sorry there hasn’t been much activity of late. A competing book project with a December due date has been diverting attention from Dave Garroway. (Don’t worry, though – more material came in today, and it’s great stuff.)
In the meantime, there’s few better ways to relax than a vintage episode of What’s My Line? And while just about any episode is guaranteed fun, here’s one that’s especially enjoyable, for obvious reasons.
Mitchell Hadley of It’s About TV interviewed me about the Garroway project a couple weeks back. Our interview is now online. Enjoy!
We’re happy to report we got not only a very kind mention in It’s About TV this week, but with it some kind words about Dave himself and a vote of confidence in our project. Thank you, Mitchell!
In that post, by the way, there’s a paragraph about the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention. I’m planning to be there for a while the first couple of days, so if you’ll be there too and would like to talk Garroway, drop me a note through the contact form.
Finally, although we’re still working on it, we’ve made some great new discoveries in the last few weeks, and more could be on the way soon. We’ll share details as appropriate when the time is right. As always, if you have any great Garroway material you’d like to share, or if you knew him and would like to share your memories, we’d really love to hear from you. The more we have, the better a book we can create, and the better we can try to capture Garroway the man in full.