Scoop; The Evolution of a Southern Reporter

188 pages. Introduction by Hank Klibanoff. Epilogue by Richard T. Cooper. Slight discoloration on endpapers and on a few pages at the end of the book noted. Minor edge soiling. Some staining to the outer cover inside the DJ. Inscribed by the editor (Barbara Matusow) on the title page. Inscription reads: To Joan, A dear, dear friend of many years who has been there for me always. With Affection, Barbara. The editor was Jack Nelson's widow. Includes Introduction, Editor's Note, Epilogue: The Washington Years, and Index. Jack Nelson evolved from a gullible cub reporter with the Daily Herald in Biloxi and Gulfport, to the pugnacious Pulitzer Prizewinner at the Atlanta Constitution, to the peerless beat reporter for the Los Angeles Times covering civil rights in the South. Throughout, he was dedicated to exposing injustice and corruption wherever he found it. Once he realized that segregation was another form of corruption, he became a premier reporter of the civil rights movement. He was, through his commitment to journalism, a chronicler of great events, a witness to news, a shaper and re-shaper of viewpoints, and one of the most important journalists of the twentieth century. Bob Woodward termed him "one of America's toughest and greatest reporters." Jack Nelson (1929-2009) was dedicated to exposing injustice and corruption wherever he found it. Whether it was the gruesome conditions at a twelve-thousand-bed mental hospital in Georgia or the cruelties of Jim Crow inequity, Nelson proved himself to be one of those rare reporters whose work affected and improved thousands of lives. His memories about difficult circumstances, contentious people, and calamitous events provide a unique window into some of the most momentous periods in southern and U.S. history. Wherever he landed, Nelson found the corruption others missed or disregarded. He found it in lawless Biloxi; he found it in buttoned-up corporate Atlanta; he found it in the college town of Athens, Georgia. Nelson turned his investigations of illegal gambling, liquor sales, prostitution, shakedowns, and corrupt cops into such a trademark that honest mayors and military commanders called on him to expose miscreants in their midst. Once he realized that segregation was another form of corruption, he became a premier reporter of the civil rights movement and its cast of characters, including Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, Alabama's Sheriff Jim Clarke, George Wallace, and others. He was, through his steely commitment to journalism, a chronicler of great events, a witness to news, a shaper and reshaper of viewpoints, and indeed one of the most important journalists of the twentieth century. Barbara Matusow is a veteran writer, a former television producer, and a contributing editor with Washingtonian Magazine. An award-winning journalist, she is the author of the bestselling The Evening Stars: The Making of the Network New Anchor. John Howard "Jack" Nelson (October 11, 1929 - October 21, 2009) was an American journalist. He was praised for his coverage of the Watergate scandal, in particular, and he was described by New York Times editor Gene Roberts as "one of the most effective reporters in the civil rights era." He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1960. After graduating from high school Nelson began his journalism career with the Biloxi Daily Herald. There he earned the nickname 'Scoop' for his aggressive reporting. He then worked for the U.S. Army writing press releases before taking a job with the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 1952. He won the Pulitzer for local reporting under deadline in 1960, citing "the excellent reporting in his series of articles on mental institutions in Georgia." Nelson joined the Los Angeles Times in 1965. He played an important role in uncovering the truth about the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre of student protesters in South Carolina. In 1970 he wrote a story about how the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police in Meridian, Mississippi sh. …