Deadlines Past

Book excerpt: Combining sound reportage with perceptive insights” this “feast for political junkies . . . offers illuminating portraits of . . . [presidential] candidates” past. (Kirkus Reviews) “For a reporter, a presidential campaign is the Olympics of political coverage, and an assignment to cover it is a front-row ticket from the trial heats to the finals. I had tickets from 1960 until 2000.” —Walter Mears Walter Mears had an insider's edge—and the Pulitzer prize winning journalist made the most of it by serving newspapers around the country with some of the best presidential campaign coverage to see print. In Deadlines Past, Mears commits his unwritten stories to paper, focusing on the 11 campaigns he covered, campaigns that altered the way American presidents are nominated and elected, and how the media reported on them. The changes were gradual from Nixon versus Kennedy through Bush versus Gore, but the historical significance of each becomes very evident in Mears's detailed and engrossing narrative. This poignant political recounting is illuminated by personal experiences and the observations of one of the finest AP reporters the history of journalism. Yet Mears never preaches any viewpoint about candidates. He tells readers what he thought at the time, without telling them what to think. The results is a richly woven fabric of fact and reflection made by a penetrating eyewitness with nearly unlimited access to his subjects. An instant classic, Deadlines Past is a compelling autobiography of hard-news reporter's life, and a captivating view of 40 years of American history. “A fascinating look at political journalism, the fast-paced world of wire-service reporting, and changes in both in the last four decades.” —Booklist