Norman Corwin: Sweet Genius - Simon Applebaum

Before TV the Internet or mobile phonesnot so long agoradio was the way millions of people picked up news information and entertainment day after day night after night It was the king of communications hill and Norman Corwin was that medium39s towering figureWhat Steven Spielberg is to film and Steve Jobs was for computers and culture Corwin accomplished in writing for radio He embraced what radio was and expanded what it could be a force for poetic whimsical commanding or poignant impressions about ourselves our heritage and our future Corwin produced and directed radio drama as well as anyone but where he excelled in the medium from the mid1930s to the early 1950s was writing His output and quality of work was humungous no matter the tone or subject matter of any one play He could make your belly ache with laughter one week move you to tears the nextCorwin39s work was so versatile and impactful that he was the only writerdirectorproducer to headline series with his name attached including 26 By Corwin in 1941 and Columbia Presents Corwin Columbia being CBS three years later When he created We Hold These Truths a special broadcast celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Bill Of Rights in 1941 a week after the December 7 invasion of Pearl Harbor all four national radio networks carried that broadcast simultaneously live Several Corwin plays were repeated a week after their premiere broadcast again live andor released as records sold in storesWhen TV supplanted radio as top mass communicator in the 1950s Corwin didn39t pack up his typewriter and leave for quieter pastures He wrote films most notably Lust For Life winning an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay He did some TV work starting with several episodes of the documentary series FDR in 1965 on ABC Hollywood Television Theater on PBS showcased Corwin directing one of his bestknown comedies The Plot To Overthrow Christmas radiostyle complete with actors using microphones and sound effects About a year later 1972 Norman Corwin Presents premiered in syndication Corwin serving as host narrator and lead writer for this anthology offering Despite good casts and scripts mostly from Corwin Presents was cancelled in 1973National Public Radio gave its listeners the present of hearing Corwin for themselves in the 1990s through a series of original specials reviving his best work That project led to giving Corwin one more chance to write for his favorite medium in 2001 via More By Corwin six new plays just as good and powerful as anything he did beforeMuch of Corwin39s best work spotlighted his love of country and tolerance for fellow human beings You can only speculate but maybe that39s why he was rewarded with the length of life he had on this planet and have it with a bright mind and spirit Corwin died last Tuesday at 101 years young of natural causes with no deficiency in genius from the likes of Alzheimer39s diseaseTo any of us fortunate to hear or watch Norman Corwin39s work there39s no question it ranks with the best of any medium He was one of my writing role models and always will be Forward from here let39s welcome any and all efforts to make his work for all mediums available for anyone including those Norman Corwin Presents episodes And let39s encourage any and all efforts to raise the next generation of TV innovators writersproducers included who like Corwin will leave their medium and society in far greater shapeUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedSimon Applebaum is hostproducer of Tomorrow Will Be Televised the Internet radiopodcastdistributed program about the TV scene Now in its fifth year on the air Tomorrow runs live MondaysFridays at 3 pm Eastern time noon Pacific time on BlogTalk Radio with replays available 247 over wwwblogtalkradiocomsimonapple04 and podcasts downloadable through ITunescom and other Web sites arranged by Sonibyte Have questions or feedback Email them to simonapple04yahoocomRead all Simonamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Tomorrow Will Be TelevisedCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Norman Corwin: Sweet Genius - Simon Applebaum

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