Dan Rather: Stories of a Lifetime by Dan Rather

Dan Rather: Stories of a Lifetime Reviews

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  Book2Dragon

  An interesting walk through history by one of my personal favorite journalists. This was an audio book, which I usually don't use, but I enjoyed listening to this. Some perspective and also some good advice.
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  Montzalee Wittmann

  Dan Rather: Stories of a Lifetime by Dan Rather is a very touching and eye opening book. These stories are behind the scenes of big events in our history. He tells the stories and he can't hide the emotions in his voice. Its heart wrenching! He covers all the way until today and gives his opinion of the times we live in during Trump's years. Very wonderful book!
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  Sara

  I enjoyed listening to him tell about his career and his family. I enjoyed it all until the end when he went on and on about a free and independent press. All the stations are owned by a handful of companies, so that’s not really free and independent. I could go on, but I won’t.
• 
  Char

  This audio book is about an hour and a half long. It consists of Dan Rather telling a few stories on stage in front of a live audience.
  
  He speaks briefly about his hometown, his wife, and his personal experiences with some of the biggest stories of our time: JFK, Vietnam, Nixon, etc... He finishes with a quick aside about what's happening in our country now and the threats to our endangered democracy.
  
  A few times he was moved to tears and I, as a listener, was moved as well.
  
  Read 7.13.21-removing the reading dates so this won't count towards my reading goal for the year.
  
  Highly recommended!
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  Holly Johnsen

  I loved hearing his stories until he got to modern day politics. He ended the book with his personal opinions towards the current president, which I found irritating. Reporters should report what’s happening and ask questions of both sides. Not be activists for their own opinions.
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  Ryan

  This was essentially a good autobiography which then turned into a political rant. Ironically, Rather calls out the importance of a free and unrestricted press, criticizing the government, but doesn't go into the issues with modern journalism and its commercial and partisan biases and limitations.
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  Anna lost in stories *A*

  an interesting little insight into a very long career, it definitely made me want to pick up something longer about his life… Dan Rather was an unknown person for me, which made this a pretty unique experience, but I really enjoyed it :) 4 stars
  
  XOXO
  
  A
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  RJ - Slayer of Trolls

  AUDIOBOOK REVIEW
  
  Recorded in front of a live audience, Rather tells stories about his career covering some of the most well-known people and events of the last 60 years or so. Interesting, especially at the end when he gives his thoughts about the political situation in America in 2020 at the time this was recorded.
  
  Available for FREE on Audible to subscribers (your results may vary)
• 
  Kerri

  I could listen to Dan Rather's stories all day. He is a national treasure. Please more more more of this!!!! We need him more than ever right now.
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  Joe Kraus

  Like most people my age and older, I feel like I know Dan Rather. He was omnipresent for a good while, and then he was disgraced – tossed out as a relic of an out-of-date model of newscasting. He was stiff and self-important. I figured I liked his politics, but – certainly in my long-haired college days – I wished he’d be a clearer advocate. Mike Wallace, ex-Michigan Daily reporter like myself, was my college commencement speaker, so he was more my top 60 Minutes guy.
  
  If I’d “read” this years ago – I put read in quotes because this is actually a terrific one-man show performance – I’d have remembered or realized sooner how much he represented at his best. (I emphasize ‘at his best.’)
  
  He opens this with a funny (yes – funny!) anecdote about his own arrogance. He tells of a moment of jealousy when his wife spent almost half an hour talking to her high school boyfriend. He said, “You know, if things had been different, you might have been married here and helping run this gas station/convenience store.”
  
  She replied, “No. If things had gone differently, you might be running this gas station, and he might be a CBS news correspondent.”
  
  From there, he declares that he was a reporter who got lucky. And the rest of this very entertaining account is the story of his luck.
  
  He got his nationa break when he proposed to his Houston station that they cover Hurricane Carla with new-fangled technology called “radar.” (He literally tied himself to a tree to prepare for the coverage, but then it turned out to be ineffective and he was inside and dry once the storm started.) His reports got picked up across the country, and CBS national hired him.
  
  Not too many years later, as the Texas correspondent, he covered the assumed-to-be-routine visit of JFK to Dallas. Since he had local contacts, he got the inside story and wound up being the first reporter to report the President was dead.
  
  And then, as the main CBS reporter on the Civil Rights Movement, he interviewed Martin Luther King and became friends with Medgar Evers. As such, even as someone who acknowledges that he grew up in segregated Texas, he became a crucial voice in the turmoil of the 1960s.
  
  The result of a series of quick and gripping stories is that he had a habit of being in the right place at the right time, and that he then found ways to make the most of it. Throughout, at one point audibly choking up, he credits his wife for holding so much of his home life together.
  
  So, start to too-soon finish, this is a lot of fun. It’s a reminder that we lost something crucial to our news ecosystem when the CBS anchor dynasty of Murrow-Cronkite-Rather came to an end. Like him or roll your eyes at him, he was a voice we all heard, and that meant a gravitational center to the facts of our time.
  
  I ding this a reluctant star because – even though it is a performed memoir – there are some key biographical elements he ignores. He skips entirely the disgrace of the end of his tenure as anchor. He also ignores the weirdness of the “What’s the frequency, Kenneth” supposed assault that inspired the later REM song.
  
  That is, I find myself liking Dan Rather here very much. I think I’d still like him if we heard the whole story, but it’s not here.
  
  Anyway, I’ve had this in the pile for a couple years, and I’m sorry now I took so long to get to it.
  
• 
  AttackGirl

  Wow, I didn’t know that Dan Rather was an expert on IQ maybe I missed his name on the Mensa database, well to be honest I haven't looked but perhaps now I will since he speaks with such condescending tone towards others. I did not know that he conducted IQ assessments of the Presidents and their administrations.
  To here him talk about President Trump seems to be par for his career course. Maybe his negative talk of this President like the last ones elude to his anger at not getting invited into Trumps bedroom. Maybe Trump should invite Reporters into his bedroom but haven't they already made inappropriate personal comments about his size. Maybe that is why they think the bulling is okay; which show they know nothing about science, math and ratios. Perhaps they need to step closer to President Trump's wide shoulder 6:3 towering frame. Google says Dan is only 5:10, to funny, how men with big mouths try to accommodate for their size.
  
  So because Dan was a reporter on the tv he feels he knows what really battle is. That he has personal combat experience, when really he only talked about it. Sick guys sent home is not combat experience. So unless you held a weapon... what do you know about combat being hell.. yah I dont think so Dan. Typical DC speak. Seems the water in DC make people claim military experience when really they have never seen combat. FYI everyone knowing someone or having a family member in the military does not give you military awards, training DD214, bragging rights...nothing.
  
  What hubris, perhaps Dan has not heard of Youtube or Apple News. Guess he also doesn’t realize that his coverage over the years is the reason we now need the President that all the citizens unanimously voted it; President Trump. Why not take responsibility for your Watergate coverage and spinning your tales costing the taxpayers millions and embarrassing our country.
  
  This is my first reading or close up of Dan Rather so my assessment is based solely on his own words in his own book, and it seems to me that he is the hater. Seems from this book alone that the day of his burial the rain my not be the only thing keeping people from his gravesite.
  
  I will give this a 2 only because at his age (88) he made the effort to cash in on the lastest demand for reading material and the new thing in media is everyone writing a book; well, with ghost writers of course. Another DC thing they won't tell you, they do not actually write their own books. I believe the only actual writer who writes their own material is Ann Coulter.
• 
  Laurie Allin

  This was an Audible Original that I got some time ago. I confess to not really knowing anything about Dan Rather beyond knowing he was a reporter. Lately I've become curious about him based on his remarks on Twitter so when I found this sitting in my library it was a good choice.
  
  And good choice it was. He, in his own voice, takes us on a quick version of his very long, full, and interesting career. At times you'll him tear up and you hear the deep love and respect he has for his wife of 61 years. He covered MLK and the civil rights movement in the south during the '60's. He was in Dallas covering the parade when JFK was shot. He's covered presidents as far back as Lyndon Johnson. And was on the ground covering the Vietnam War. He is 89 years old and still relevant today.
  
  I saw some complaints about this that it ends in brief rant about Trump. I will allow someone with his experience, history and intimate knowledge of the last 50 years of politics to express his expert opinion on the matter. As well as what he had to say about the importance of journalism. I think he's allowed that more so than I, or most any other person who took the time to listen to this, and our utter lack of knowledge beyond what we've read on social media.
  
  Late to the party, but I am a fan of Dan Rather.
• 
  Barb

  Interesting, I liked the story of Walter Cronkite at the end!
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  Heather Venard

  Oh this is lovely, but I have to give it only four stars because it's too short! Dan Rather continues to be incredibly relevant, over the past few years being such a voice of reason in media even during his retirement. But there's something really special to hearing him via audiobook, rather than just through his super important Facebook posts, sharing stories about his career. So what touched me the most were the moments when he got choked up, from recounting the experience of being in Dallas in 63 when Kennedy was assassinated, to his deep friendships with civil rights icons like Medgar Evers and his reaction to the terrible tragedies that took their lives. And even beyond that, the warmth and emotion with which he talks about his wife and family. If you're a fan of his career, absolutely go check this out.
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  Michelle Akers-dicken

  This man has seen history. He's lived history. These short little stories were entertaining, for sure. I can imagine that Dan Rather would be the best dinner guest, captivating everyone with fascinating stories. I'd love to hear more! I feel like he worked pretty hard, with this short book, to keep it light and entertaining. How do you keep our nation's Civil Rights movement or the Viet Nam war or the assassination of President Kennedy short and light hearted? I wanted to see what Mr. Rather's eyes saw!
• 
  Jeff

  Same old hack.
  Dan Rather is certainly full of himself and granted, he has had quite a life. This audio book is similar to his life. Interesting and and entertaining in the beginning then his obvious liberal bias just can't be contained and we spend the final 10 minutes talking about the evils of Fox News and Trump. Ironically, the rise of both came from the biased coverage and narrative that Rather and CBS continue to deliver.
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  Janet Womack

  An interesting look at the life of Dan Rather. A touching look at some of the harder stories he has reported on. Most of this was very interesting and enjoyable. The opinions on current politics that he closed with I could have done without.
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  Lynn Miller

  A fascinating listen about Dan Rather. His story about his childhood and growth to journalist. I really enjoyed it!
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  Denise

  Interesting and entertaining stories from a multi-decade journalistic career, involving personal as well as professional aspects, plenty of behind the scenes tidbits and a sizable dose of humour.
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  Kara Demetropoulos

  This was an inspiring and relevant listen full of tales from Dan Rather's career in journalism. Mainly covering the Civil Rights era, Kennedy assassination, Vietnam War, and Nixon, there were quite a few sobering and heartbreaking moments, but Dan guides us through them gently. He concludes with some relevant remarks on our current situation, and leaves us with practical steps to take to safeguard our communities during these crazy times. Having never watched him on the air, Dan Rather blew me away with his humility, sincerity, and wit. This was a true delight to listen to.
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  C.A. Gray

  A really fascinating memoir which I thoroughly enjoyed... until the end. I love hearing how seemingly coincidental moments steer people into their destinies, and the book is peppered with those. Rather is almost like a "Where's Waldo" through history, present at numerous of the most pivotal moments almost by happenstance. But, alas... at the end, he decided to throw in his own present day political opinions. I should have guessed this would happen; otherwise Audible wouldn't be giving the book away for free. I stopped listening and therefore am not rating it.
• 
  Lisa

  Dan Rather speaks to an audience about how he got into the News business as a young man and highlights important people and events he encountered along the way. A very interesting listen. As a news journalist and TV anchorman he kept his emotions hidden to do the job but in this audible original his emotions are on full display. Some of his stories are humorous and he gets emotional a few times when talking about his beloved wife of 62 years. I really enjoyed this audiobook from a giant in the industry.
• 
  Julie Meyer

  With a long career in journalism and broadcasting, Rather shares his career through many historical events over decades. In this audible, we hear more insight into these events and sometimes his words are spoken through tears.
  Other than the historical events that are shared in this work, Rather focuses on obtaining information. He ends by sharing concerns about misinformation and authoritarianism in the United States.
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  Tyora Moody

  I don’t often read or listen to memoirs. But when I saw this audiobook with Dan Rather I definitely wanted to listen. I follow him on Twitter and enjoyed he time as a news anchor for CBS. He has the best sense of humor I’ve ever heard from a journalist.
  
  This audiobook was a really good listen and I highly recommend! His past history as an investigative journalist was fascinating and shows why his wisdom is so relevant today.
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  Cdhutson

  Growing up listening to Dan Rather I fully realized the trust he had developed with the American public over the years. I listened to it on audible. I have to admit i enjoyed the audible version better because you can here the emotion in his voice as he tell his stories. There were those he laughed at and those you could hear the tears. I especially enjoyed when he told how Ratherisms came to be and also his count of the Vietnam War. This book made me take a walk back to the past.
• 
  Lorraine

  Free from Audible this month.
  I loved this brief memoir about Dan Rather ( also narrated by Dan Rather). The stories he told, in his own voice were incredible. What a life! My only criticism is when the book ended, I was WHAT???? I wanted to hear so much more of this man’s incredible life.
  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stars
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  Carissa

  Very cool the historical events Rather got to experience over the years. With humor, heart, and humility, Rather describes many of them in his book. In the audiobook, he reads his own story and it's cool to hear it read by him, not anyonr else. It is presented as storytelling, not as if he's just reading it word for word.
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  Kate R

  really good audiobook, read by Dan Rather himself. He's telling an audience of some of the most influential moments in history that he was able to cover as a journalist. It was so interesting. My only complaint was it was too short. I wanted more stories!
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  Tamela Rich

  I’ve never worshipped news anchors/journalists, and I always had the idea that Dan Rather thought a bit too highly of himself, but listening to him tell the stories of his life really endeared me to him. Told with candor, and self-deprecation, I am so glad I listened.