Lone Star: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Dan Rather

by Alan Weisman

Alan Weisman has come as close as anyone to unraveling one of the big mysteries of the television who is the real Dan Rather? Weisman has devoted much time, energy, and talent to that question, and this book is a fascinating read.
--Robert Pierpoint, former CBS News correspondent

""There is no career in modern television journalism that is more fascinating, complicated, controversial, or accomplished than that of Dan Rather, and there is no one who has focused the attention of colleagues, TV writers, competitors, and, of course, critics to a similar degree over the last twenty-five years. Alan Weisman's lively account of this remarkable life explains why the quest to understand Rather has remained so vital and important.""
--Verne Gay, television critic, Newsday

""This book is an attempt to take a few steps back from Memogate and examine the whole picture -- the scope and breadth of Dan Rather's life, career, and times. If he mattered enough to be watched by untold millions of people for fifty years on television, then his story matters enough to be told as fully as possible.""
--From Lone The Extraordinary Life and Times of Dan Rather

Genres: Biography

254 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

ALAN WEISMAN recently retired from CBS News after working as a writer and producer at the network for more than twenty-five years on news shows including 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood, the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, and the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. He has also worked for Charlie Rose and for Time Life. Weisman has been interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered and other national media.

Reviews

[Stefanni Lynch]

I picked this one up at a used book sale because I have always had an interest in the Houston Heights raised Texas boy that made it big in broadcasting. This seemed to me to be a thinly disguised hatchet job by a former coworker at CBS. The author made several innuendos that he did not back up with facts. I know that no one is faultless, but I’m not sure this was an even-handed biography of Rather.

[Patrick Nichol]

This is a quick and dirty portrayal of the famous for mer CBS News anchor by a long-time colleague.

Weisman's warts-and-all examination of Rather's life is fascinating, but hindered by Rather's non-participation.

Apparently, Rather thought his involvement would jeopardize negotiations to stay at CBS.

We now know he was forced out, largely because of the so-called "Memogate" scandal involving President George W. Bush.

Weisman's book also shows us Rather's quirky side, and opines how his personality led to his downfall.

I'd recommend this book as a counterpoint to Rather's own memoirs.