Average customer rating:
- Want News? Miss This Deadline
- A "front row seat" on 40 years of presidential campaigns
- Presidential Campaign Reporting At Its Best
- Great chronicle of presidential politics
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Deadlines Past: Forty Years Of Presidential Campaigning: A Reporter's Story
Walter Mears
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0740738526 |
Book Description
Walter Mears had an insider"s edge"and he made the most of it by serving newspapers and their readers around the country with some of the best presidential campaign coverage to see print. The Pulitzer Prize winner also witnessed enough of "the oddities, inside stuff, and impressions" during his 45-year Associated Press career that he ended up with a treasury of American politics and the forces that shaped them.Fortunately, in Deadlines Past Mears finally commits his unwritten stories to paper. Readers are richly rewarded by his focus on the 11 campaigns he covered, campaigns that altered the way American presidents are nominated and elected, and how the media told the tales along the way. The changes were gradual from Nixon versus Kennedy through Bush versus Gore, but the historical significance of each matchup 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 to ever file a story. Yet Mears never preaches any viewpoint about candidates or campaign history. He tells readers what he thought at the time, without telling them what to think. The results are a richly woven fabric of fact and reflection made by a penetrating eyewitness with nearly unlimited access to his subjects.Deadlines Past is destined to become a classic in the political genre, one of the most compelling examples of a hard-news reporter"s life, and a captivating view of 40 years of American history.
Customer Reviews:
Want News? Miss This Deadline.......2005-09-10
Deadlines Past is a solid, occasionally insightful look at four decades of Presidential campaigns. But it left me wanting more.
Since Mears was an AP reporter or columnist for most of his professional life, it's no wonder Deadlines Past reads more like a long news account than a novel. That is to say it's lacking much of the gossip or inside news that never made newsprint. In that regard, the book was a disappointment. I expected that someone with the access of an AP reporter would have more to share than what he already reported.
I also expected that Mears might pull back the curtain a little more on the how and why certain stories become "big" and others don't. While he talked a bit about it, it's almost as if Mears himself was an observer of the phenomenon instead of a player in it.
In spite of missing what the book could have been, it's still a fascinating historical record of presidential politics. Not many people alive can compare John Kennedy's campaign personality with Al Gore's. Or Dole with Goldwater. I'd be lying if I said I didn't learn things about the men and their campaigns.
If you're looking for scandal or an examination of the media itself, miss this deadline. Mears just doesn't deliver.
But if you're interested more in a complete, one stop shopping for what happened in the last half of the twentieth century's presidential campaigns, it hits that mark well.
A "front row seat" on 40 years of presidential campaigns.......2005-04-17
I recall reading and appreciating Theodore H. White's The Making of the President, 1960. Since then, I have read dozens of other books about that and subsequent campaigns as well as countless studies of those who have served as President. That said, I consider Mears's Deadlines Past among the most informative as well as most entertaining. In it, he examines his 40-year career as a reporter who rose within the ranks of the Associated Press organization, eventually serving as the AP's bureau chief in Washington. He retired after the inauguration of George W. Bush in 2001. Of special significance to me is that he had a unique advantage over almost everyone else assigned to cover the White House and its most important occupant: Unlike counterparts from individual newspapers as well as radio and television networks, Mears represented a service organization which distributed reports to its subscribers throughout the world. As a result, the nature and extent of his access to the Oval Office were greater than almost any other journalist's. Here is a representative sample of what he observed and, more importantly, what he thought about a given politician, issue, or event.
"Sometimes politicians do lie and misbehave, although probably no more often than people in business or lawyers or, for that matter, journalists. But most of the politicians I covered ran for office because they thoughts they could achieve change for the better, not purely for power and surely not for money, although wealth came to some of them because they held or had held office. That's not to say that they did not relish power. Power translates into the ability to do what a candidate believes should be done, and politicians are an ego-driven lot, out to sell themselves on the public stage in ways that would embarrass most of us." (page 25)
In 1976, "...the improbable Democrat [Carter] beat the unelected Republican [Ford], but only narrowly. It was not surprising that Ford lost the 1976 election. That he came close to winning it was a political miracle for a humdrum Republican who had never run in an election outside of his Michigan congressional district, who came to the presidency because of his own party's scandal, and worsened his situation by Pardoning Nixon for Watergate crimes." (page 127)
"There had been rumblings from [Quayle's] detractors about dumping him in 1992, but Bush decreed long in advance that Quayle would absolutely be on his ticket. He'd produced a dossier of gaffes as vice president. I thought he peaked with his contorted attempt to recite the slogan of the United Negro College Fund. `What a waste it is to lose one's mind or not to have a mind, is being wasteful. How true it is." Yes, a mind is indeed a terrible thing to waste. His most convoluted sentences not withstanding, Quayle was no dummy. To borrow the line used against him in that 1988 debate: I knew Dan Quayle, Dan Quayle was a friend of mine. I thought he was a competent man and a competent senator who would have been better off had he stayed in the senate. He was better than his reputation and his worst lines, but in over his head as vice president." (pages 271-272)
"I had been writing columns for the AP for twelve years and I had one to go. I interviewed the first President-elect Bush for my first column in 1989 and the second President-elect Bush for my last in 2001. I asked each of them as he began what he would want said of him after his time in the White House. `I want to give it my best shot,' the elder Bush had said on the eve of his inauguration. `The presidency is still the place from which to lead and from which to effect change, hopefully for the better.' Same topic, new president. `I hope people will be able to say he was steady under fire, he was wise enough to listen to counsel and decisive enough to make a decision that made a positive difference,' George W. told me.
"With that final story it was time for me to go. I'd had a front row seat on national politics for forty years. It was exhilarating, exhausting, satisfying, tense, frustrating, and fun -- my ticket to see, hear, and write about winners and losers, flaws and failings, in the imperfect way of nominating and electing presidents."
There are literally several hundred other passages in this book from which I could also have selected a representative sample. Mears does everything possible to share with his reader the "front row seat" to which he refers. His intelligence and energy are soon obvious. Also his discretion and circumspection when sharing his own opinions about the "winners and losers, flaws and failings, in the imperfect way of nominating and electing presidents." Throughout this volume, especially after he had gained extensive experience covering the White House, he also indicates that he possessed what Hemingway once referred to as "a built-in, shock-proof crap detector."
For those who share my keen interest in presidential campaigns and, especially, in the key individuals involved with them, this is a "must read." I also highly recommend Hendrik Hertzberg's Politics: Observations & Arguments, 1966-2004, David C. Whitney's The American Presidents: Biographies of the Chief Executives from George Washington to George W. Bush, To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents (revised) edited by James M. McPherson and David Rubel, and Paul F. Boller, Jr.'s Presidential Campaigns.
Presidential Campaign Reporting At Its Best.......2004-01-14
I am a political junkie- I love to hear stories about politics and in particular the people involved. I live in New Hampshire where it used to be that every four years we would have a new Presidential campaign. Now, of course, the campaigns start as soon as the President is sworn into office. In a past life I wonder if I was a reporter on "the beat".
Walter Mears tells his stories as an AP (Associated Press) reporter for the past 40 years. From 1955 until 2001 this man's words were seen daily in every American newspaper in the country. Thus he could be said to be the most influential political reporter of his time. He is in a sense the storyteller of the past. He tells the stories of the 11 presidential campaigns that he covered. He is a fascinating man, and I have read all the material available about him and his writing and speaking.
Walter Mears graduated from Middlebury and got a job straight away with the AP. He started in Boston and reported from a pay phone that was reserved for bookies. He was soon asked to cover the Legislature in Montpelier, Vermont. He had no training, it was on the job. He was told to report on the Legislature and that is what he did. He said recently that the AP job in Vermont was the job he loved the most. He eventually moved to the big time in Washington, D.C. and it is there that he retired from the AP in 2001.
In between, Walter Mears covered all the important campaigns of the past 45 years. He has stories of JF Kennedy- " that man kept his love life secret- there is no way that the press wouldn't have talked about it if we had known- it worked for him because he didn't let anybody know". The Nixon years, the Clinton years-Vietnam and Watergate changed attitudes about government coverage- it turned from skeptical trust to suspicion and cynicism. Bill Clinton made suspicion and trust of politicians worse by his misconduct and dishonesty. American citizens fed on the assumption that politicians are not to be trusted said Mears.
In 1977 Walter Mears won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting of the 1976 Presidential Campaign. The day after he won, everyone gathered around him to see what he was going too write- as he said "The next story is the news".
Walter Mears believes in his profession, loves it. His philosophy is "Let people know what is happening and then let them decide what to do about it." He loves the politicians he covers. He believes they are honest people, and they think they are doing good things whether they are or not.
Walter Mears is a reporter who does not give biased, opininated news, and he is despondent over the news celebrities on the cable channels that think they are delivering news. This is one hell of a book. I enjoyed every page- the stories he tells and the times he has had. This man has lived his life doing what he loved! An admirable man and an admirable book. prisrob
Great chronicle of presidential politics.......2003-10-03
Walter Mears crafts a compelling look at presidential politics from Kennedy to George W. Bush. His story does not contain the level of ego found in other books, and his behind the scenes stories and insights, and the history of American presidential politics, are worth a read.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from American Journalism Review, published by University of Maryland on October 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1019 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Lots of facts, but not much more.(Deadlines Past Forty Years of Presidential Campaigning: A Reporter's Story)(Book Review)
Author: Carl Sessions Stepp
Publication:
American Journalism Review (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 2003
Publisher: University of Maryland
Volume: 25
Issue: 7
Page: 85(1)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Have you dreamed about scoring from the halfway line, bending a free kick past a wall of defenders, assisting in the perfect goal, or leading your team to the biggest soccer tournament in the world?
David Beckham has fulfilled his ambition to give something back to soccer and to his fans across the globe. Thanks to The David Beckham Academy, aspiring young soccer players now have the opportunity to realize their dreams.
This unique book features Beckham sharing his knowledge of the game, his skills developed from playing for the best clubs in the world, his experiences as England's captain, and his life in Madrid—all captured as never before.
Customer Reviews:
David Beckham skills.......2007-05-08
It is a nice book. But I was more expecting a chance on his expertise on running drills for kids to get better. It is more of a fan book. Sort of an autobiography.
Book Description
The Last Word on David Beckham
There is only one David Beckham -- and it's not always the one you read about in the newspapers and magazines or see in the movies. From humble East End London beginnings, the boy with prodigious soccer skills grew up to be one of the most gifted athletes of his generation as well as a sex symbol and fashion icon. Along the way he married Spice Girl Victoria "Posh" Adams, and together they inhabit a celebrity whirlwind of Diana-esque proportions. In
Both Feet on the Ground, David talks candidly about the perils of fame (his wife and son were the targets of a notorious kidnapping plot and he is the subject of almost daily tabloid rumors); the struggle to balance his roles as a devoted husband and besotted father with his globetrotting existence as an international soccer star; the behind-the-scenes stories of his most memorable and heartbreaking (if only he could retake that infamous penalty kick against Portugal in Euro 2004) career moments; the controversy surrounding his first year at Real Madrid after his $41 million transfer from Manchester United, the storied English team he joined as a teenager and led for more than a decade; and, finally, his love of America, where he plans to start a soccer school and perhaps, one day, even play professionally.
Both Feet on the Ground is David Beckham's own extraordinary story, told by the man who knows him best -- David Beckham.
Download Description
The legend of David Beckham -- soccer god, global sex symbol, style icon -- as only he can tell it. The international soccer star speaks candidly about the pressures of celebrity, goes behind the scenes of his most memorable career moments -- and sets the record straight.
Customer Reviews:
David Beckham.......2007-10-09
This book is a great book if you are a soccer fan. If your not it will still change the way you look at sports stars forever!
This book talks about David Beckham inside and out. It makes you realize how many people take the sport called soccer (football) so seriously and how that can affect a player. It makes you see David as a different person. You see past the reputation and greatness of this wonderful man. It makes you look at him as a person like you and me. He is very humble as he tells his story. You realize how much respect he has for other stars such has Michel Jordan, Ronaldo, Zidane and more.
He talks about his life in soccer and his life outside of soccer. Sometimes I got a little confused because he would go back and forth a little bit but it makes sense if you keep reading. He talks about all the important games and all the games that meant something to him personally. It is amazing how much he remembers from his career at Man U and Real Madrid. He mentions at least 4 games a chapter if not more. I loved that because I love soccer and hearing about what happened.
He talks about his childhood and how much he was committed to playing. The long nights with his dad in the park and then going to watch his dad play soccer with his friends and how he was so happy when he got to play with them, about how he always liked to play against the older kids for a challenge. How the Ridge Way Rovers, his childhood team and his dad and his coaches made him the player that he is today.
He talks about all his time with Man U. He talks about his time with the child development team, how he struggled to get a starting position in the first team when his friends were already starting regularly. How he scored his amazing goal from half field to make people start realizing him. He talks about locker room and the attitude and faces of players and coaches before and after the game.
He talks about his time at England, how he got a red card in France 98 and the reaction he got when he came home to England. He talks about what it means to captain his nation (England).
He talks about his first season with Real Madrid and how that affected him as a player and how different the culture is from his.
He talks about his family, about how much he loves them and how much they mean to him and about all the special moment he's had with them.
Last but not least he talks about the press and paparazzi, how they helped him and how they killed him and his family.
This amazing book will change the way you look at famous people and the way you look at yourself as a person.
A great/Fast Read..........2007-09-10
A great read. David really talks in depth about his early roots in football.
Short and sweet - if you want to know about the world best soccer players....read his autobiography!
Great insight to the world's most well-known athelete.......2006-03-13
The life of David Beckham is often splashed across the tabloids and may or may not be the truth. In this honest autobiography, Mr Beckham details beginning as a boy with a passion for soccer, meeting the girl of his dreams, his role as proud father, and his triumphs and defeats playing for Manchester United and now for Real Madrid. Readers not avid fans of soccer will also find this memoir inspiring.
Beckham, Both Feet on the Ground.......2006-01-21
Are you looking for a great book to read? Then the book for you is Beckham Both Feet on the Ground. This is a fantastic autobiography by one of the greatest living soccer players of all time. You're probably thinking yuck soccer. That's boring. Well you couldn't be any more wrong. This book not only talks about his incredible soccer career, but he also talks about his fantastic stories of his childhood and his wonderful wife and children. This book goes through his whole life story from when he was a little boy in London to his new home in Real Madrid. He is said to be the next big soccer prodigy the world has ever seen. Is it true? He tells many stories of his glories victories to his upsetting losses. This book is an emotional roller coaster. From getting a red card in the world cup to winning the FA Primer league with his beloved club team Manchester United. This book is the number one international best seller. It was easy to understand. It was a lengthy book but don't be intimidated. It was so intriguing that you wont want to put it down. There are also a variety of pictures to help better understand what he is saying. To read more about the wonderful life of David Beckham pick this book up were ever books are sold.
King Of Marketing!.......2005-12-21
It has been many years since this guy stopped worrying about playing soccer, and focused solely in his obligations with sponsors, in posing for photos, etc. He has won absolutely nothing in Real Madrid, a team so engulfed by its millionaire stars that no coach can make it work as an efficient soccer team.
It's useless to read a book about this narcisist guy.
Book Description
A look at soccer superstar David Beckham, the Real Madrid team he joined in 2003, and at how this combination has forever changed the face of the world's most popular sport.
Book Description
A photographic portrait of one of the most talented and high-profile sportsmen in the world, accompanied by his own autobiographical text. While much is written about him, David Beckham remains an elusive character. Here he tells his own story and talks of the artistry of his soccer skills, his personal heroes and influences, his daily life in soccer and the celebrity world, and his hopes for the future.
Customer Reviews:
.......2006-06-23
I bought this book for my boyfriend when it first came out. He's obsessed with football and absolutely adores david beckham, so he loved it. All the pictures were great, especially since he's not that into reading. I would definately reccomend this book to parents who have kids who love soccer and hate reading, or just for anyone that likes soccer in general
excellent.......2003-05-27
i was so happy when i purchased this book. Infact, i would have paid almost anything for it...could not put it down for 1 second. the text was extremly insightful and what was even better was the added photos...Defintely would reccomend this biography to everyone!!!!!!
Magnificant.......2003-01-20
I have just recently become a daivd beckham fan so i purchased this book and to my surprise it was one of the best biographies i have ever read. David talks about not only his love for his family but his feelings about man. united and england soccer. This is a must buy for all soccer fans!
Beckham lovers will love the book! Even Beckham haters!.......2002-12-20
My mother brought me this book in England just recently. I've wanted to have the book since it was first released, but its rather expensive if you buy it in Indonesia.
I have been an England fan, a Man United fan, and a Beckham since I was in secondary school 8 years ago. I knew Beckham since he was in the youth club. I lived in England at that time.
I think the book is excellent. The photos are too. I already knew a lot a bout Beckham, but since I read the book, I found out new things that made me respect him even more. He really loves his family and ofcourse football. Hes a real professional! For those of you who are Beckham fans, reading this book is a must! For those who aren't or are even Beckham haters, you'd definitely change your opinion about him. Salute!!
Alfatih Gesuan Panananjung
Nice book! Worth buying!.......2002-05-23
I bought this book in harcover edition via the amazon.uk.co for the reason that it's cheaper to buy from the UK instead of the US. I'm not an American, and either am I a football fan but after reading this book, I think I'm becoming addicted to football games. If you ever know something about Beckham you might know him as the husband of a Spice Girl/Victoria, but there are something more than that. You see this book, and youknow that there's something special towards Beckham. His determination for love and for football is amazing. The book "My world" tells you all because it's only written by Beckham himself. It shows us a intimate look inside Beckham's life. Though it's not that NEW you know, but it's still so great. With the pictures and the words inside this book, you'll know who Beckham is, or who Beckham TRULY is.
Book Description
David Beckham started out like so many soccer-playing children around the world: kicking the ball around the park with his father. But Beckham worked especially hard at the sport. He learned how to kick the ball far, and he developed incredible aim. When he was only 13, he signed with Manchester United, a famous English soccer team. When he was sixteen, he left home to train with the team full-time. He was picked for the English national team and later asked to be the team's captain. When he married pop singer Victoria Spice, he became one of the most famous soccer players in the world. His celebrity has brought him both good and bad things.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Beginning Chapter Soccer Book.......2005-06-04
Does your soccer child want to do a book report or read about today's soccer stars? Well look no further. This beginning chapter book is well written and filled with full color action photographs.
Average customer rating:
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David Beckham (Star Files)
Paul Harrison
Manufacturer: Raintree
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
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ASIN: 1410916642 |
Book Description
David Beckham, captain of England’s 2006 World Cup soccer team, is arguably the best-known sports figure in the world. After a decade as a major star for Britain’s Manchester United, he continues his winning ways in Spain for Real Madrid. And his marriage to former Spice Girl Victoria Adams adds an extra dimension to his celebrity appeal. Dean Freeman, the photographer who has captured Beckham’s life more intimately than any other, offers a dazzling selection from his archive of exclusive Beckham photos. This is Freeman’s first book on the sport and style icon since his bestseller My World, and it contains a selection of over 100 new images.
Average customer rating:
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Brilliant Brits: David Beckham (Brilliant Brits)
Richard Brassey
Manufacturer: Dolphin Paperbacks
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Binding: Paperback
Soccer
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ASIN: 1842552309 |
Book Description
From the day he started kicking a ball around, as a skinny little boy, to his position as captain of the England team and scorer of one of the greatest goals ever, Beckham's story is an inspiring one. Richard Brassey's succinct little picture book with its colourful pictures and lively captions is a fabulous addition to his Brilliant Brits.
Average customer rating:
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The Real David Beckham: An Intimate Biography
Gaynor Morgan
Manufacturer: John Blake
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1843581205 |
Book Description
Gaynor Morgan, daughter of former Manchester United star Willie Morgan, has been a friend of David Beckham’s for years, earning the confidence of both the legendary soccer player and his wife Victoria. In The Real David Beckham, Morgan uses her privileged position to reveal how a boy from Essex became one of the most recognizable faces in the world, the truth about his marriage, and how he deals with his celebrity—showing a side of David Beckham that only his closest friends have ever glimpsed.
Customer Reviews:
Don't waste your money!.......2004-10-03
This book isn't worth the paper it's printed on. The publishers synopsis is way off base. I bought this book and immediatly gave it away, the author is a c list celeb that thinks that makes her a somebody.
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