European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 3, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Sidelight Burns still hot with documentary on old radio Day by David Zurawik the Baltimore Sun Ken Burns Best work hypnotize. Literally. And though bums Empire of the air. The men who made radio Quot lacks the sustained transcendence of the civil War it has stretches that will pull you into its Story and transport you like almost nothing else on television. Empire of the air a two hour film that recently ran on pcs stateside is not trying to be the civil War. Its focus a the lives of three men collectively considered the fathers of radio in America a is far More modest by Burns standards. But because the lives Are so representative and so intertwined in a Story with such profound effects on 20th Century life modest for Burns is still a Mountain of generally Good history made compelling in the telling. The three men profiled in Empire Are David Sar Noff the immigrant who went from grinding poverty to become chairman of Ria Edwin Howard Ann Strong whose inventions provided the technological underpinnings of radio As we know it and Lee de Forest whose vacuum tube helped make the radio part of virtually every Home in America. That a what they did. Who they were is what Burns distils and makes fascinating As he explains it. Armstrong is the True inventor a that american Type so important in late 19th and Early 20th Century life. The Man Bent Over a lamp who in his lonely Laboratory quest finds a path that changes society. Samoff is the Horatio Alger Story who Rose by Pluck Luck a Little lying and a steamroller mentality that crushed opposition in his climb from newsboy to corporate chieftain. Do Forest is credited with discovering the vacuum tube but its not Clear that he really Ever understood it. In his later years living in Hollywood with his fourth wife he was clearly More concerned with finding a Good Public relations consultant to keep his name in the news than he was any matters of scientific inquiry. All three a but especially Armstrong and de Forest a spent most of their adult lives embroiled in lawsuits with each other Over patents and their place in broadcasting history. The end of Armstrong s Story a a suicide after losing his biggest Battle to the mighty Sarnoff and Ria a is the stuff of novels. Burns works with a dense soundtrack. The lonely fiddle and acoustic instruments heard on the civil War soundtrack Are Back to provide one layer of sound. Jason Robards narration provides another layer. Yet another layer comes from interviews with Media historians men and women who knew the three radio pioneers As Well As such radio voices As red Barber and Garrison Keiller. And then there Are All those portions of actual radio broadcasts a from Franklin d. Roosevelt a fireside chats to the White men doing the voices of Amos a no Europe again this time to celebrate with pals Andy Rooney Joe Fleming was 14 when he came wading ashore in the face of withering enemy fire on a Day june 6,1944, the youngest american Soldier to land in Normandy that Day. Or at least that a what Joe tells anyone who asks him about his part in world War ii. Last weekend i was in Darmstadt Germany with Joe and 31 other old friends to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the the stars and stripes. The current staff is still putting out a Good professional newspaper there. Joe Fleming a remarks were his Way of suggesting that a lot of War stories including those of newspaper reporters Are hot air. Joe took a Job in Germany with the United press after the War and never came Home. He lives in relative isolation from his american friends and i asked Joe How much English he Speaks from Day to Day. A you always speak to children dogs and you dream in your native language a he said. The great Bill Mauldin the sergeant who almost destroyed the pompous tyrant Gen. George Patton with his cartoons in the stars and stripes was there. After winning the pulitzer prize As a postwar editorial cartoonist Bill moved Back to his native Santa be . If head been drawing in saudi Arabia during the persian Gulf War Pentagon censors would have had Bill shipped Home in chains. The stars and stripes attracted a group of talented oddballs from its army ranks and de Clark was one of the most of both. De and his Friend Vic Dallaire were putting out a version of the stars and stripes in Strasbourg when the German army went on the attack. Our troops pulled out but de and Vic continued printing the paper in English German and French and sold it on the streets to natives for spending Money. De has Bone cancer but he a cheery. He Lightheart edly described his funeral plans. He has Given his wife Peg two lists of people. One list is the Bill Mauldin is Happy to be undercover beside Andy Rooney at stripes 50th birthday ceremony. Us Jim oar half people head like to have come. The second is a list of people who Are under no circumstances to be admitted to the services. Ben Price broke into tears when he saw . Hodenfield in the lobby of the Maritim hotel in Darmstadt. Hod once a wild Man had had a stroke and his speech and Pace Are halting. Not that Benny a in great shape either since he fell off a ladder. No infirmity provided those at the reunion with any immunity to critical remarks. When Hod said in his slow stammering voice that he Wasny to drinking anymore someone laughed and yelled across the table a you already drank your share As a reporter for the stars and stripes Hod unlike Fleming went in with the rangers on a Day and scaled Point do hoc the Promontory with a German gun position that looked up and Down Omaha Beach. Hod was one of fewer than 100 rangers who were not killed by germans shooting directly Down on them As they dangled from ropes. It would have been hard for anyone but those of us who knew him to imagine this frail Shadow of a Man scaling those Cliffs 48 years ago. Arthur Goodfriend lives in Hawaii but has taken a two year Job teaching in Hungary. We were All pleased to see Arthur because he a 86. Its reassuring to have someone at an event like this older than you Are. Charley Kiley Jack Foisie Joe Mcbride and Jack Raymond were there. You May not know them but they Are legends among their Peers in the newspaper business. Ken Zumwalt who wrote a Book about the paper a few years ago was there. Dave Golding was still taking charge 50 years later. Dave worked for Samuel Goldwyn. Ralph Martin arrived with a personality that matches the Bear hugs he gives old friends. Ralph has written More Good books than most people have read. Everyone needs to be with people his or her own age from time to time. There is something about having shared the same dangerous adventure on Earth that produces a Bond that a hard to deny. Tribune Media Sor Vicos May 3, 1992sunday a Page 9
