LOS ANGELES (AP) — During a career that spanned more than
70 years, Norman Corwin wrote, produced and directed for radio,
television, film and the stage.
His insightful writing earned Emmy
and Golden Globe awards. He received an Academy Award nomination for
his script for the 1956 film "Lust for Life," the biography of Vincent
van Gogh starring Kirk Douglas.
But radio was Corwin’s true passion.
"I
find it difficult to turn down an offer to be heard," he said in a 2001
interview on public radio. "Whether it’s an anniversary, whether it’s
on the ending of a war, whatever the subject, I am ham enough to enjoy
communicating to people, to an audience."
Corwin, a creative giant
of the Golden Age of Radio whose programs chronicling World War II are
milestones in broadcasting, died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home of
natural causes, according to the USC Annenberg School for Communication
& Journalism where Corwin remained a writer in residence until his
death. He was 101.
Actor William Shatner, who narrated several of
Corwin’s later radio programs, called him a legend and his hero. He is
"the poetic soul of discretion and a monument to artistry in America,"
Shatner once said.
Throughout the 1940s, Corwin was well known to
millions of Americans who depended on radio for their link to the world.
His work during that so-called Golden Age of Radio ran the gamut of
creative offerings, from variety shows to dramas, comedies to
documentaries.
Some of his most acclaimed programs dealt with
World War II and provided perspective about a war being fought thousands
of miles away. His writing brought the country together, inspiring
patriotism, hope and optimism.
He joined CBS in 1938 at the height
of the radio network’s glory, working with such broadcasting greats as
Edward R. Murrow and Howard K. Smith. While his early work was behind
the microphone, Corwin eventually turned his focus to writing, producing
and directing.
In 1941, he wrote "We Hold These Truths," a
commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights featuring
the voices of Lionel Barrymore, Walter Brennan and Orson Welles. It was
broadcast simultaneously on all four radio networks days after the
bombing of Pearl Harbor.
"We Hold These Truths" was added in 2005
to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, formed to honor
sound recordings of unusual historical merit.
In 1945, he penned
"On a Note of Triumph," considered by many to be Corwin’s masterpiece.
It was broadcast nationwide on May 8, 1945, the day of the allied
victory in Europe.
In an introduction to the program, Corwin
wrote: "I thought to consider what had been wrought, and why — what the
victory had cost, what, if anything, we had learned — and what lay ahead
in the way of global obligations and responsibilities."
A film
about that broadcast, "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman
Corwin," won the Oscar in 2006 for best short documentary.
In the mid-1950s, Corwin turned to television and film.
He
wrote the first and final programs of a 26-part portrait of President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, titled "FDR," that aired on the ABC
television network in 1963. A year later, he scripted a 90-minute
examination of Hollywood for NBC titled "Inside the Movie Kingdom."
Corwin
wrote at least 19 books and several stage plays, including "The Odyssey
of Runyan Jones." He received numerous awards in media and the
humanities, including two Peabody medals. In 1993, he was inducted into
the Radio Hall of Fame.
USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III
called Corwin "a true legend." ”His insightful, inspiring body of work
has been absorbed into the American consciousness. He gave us the
benefit of his knowledge, wit and keen observations through many
decades, and he was a literary treasure."
At a 100th birthday
celebration thrown for Corwin at USC Annenberg last year, Wilson quoted
Corwin from an oral history he had shared with Annenberg professor Bryce
Nelson on his 95th birthday, according to the USC Annenberg website.
Corwin had said:
"My approach is distinct from that of searching
only for what’s wrong. I lay heavy emphasis on what is right because
that too often escapes the awareness of a writer..I also place emphasis
on rewriting, on the theory that all first drafts are trash. And that
applies to my own first drafts. I think it’s terribly important to read,
to watch television and movies, and listen to radio, to read books,
magazines, newspapers, even when the material is poor. A student should
learn what makes it poor.
"In sum, I urge my students to read widely. I believe in the benefits of intellectual osmosis."

Corwin often bemoaned the current state of commercial radio broadcasting.
"Today
there is a plethora of a kind of radio that is very inexpensive to
produce, talking heads," he said in a 2001 interview with Atlantic
Public Media. "We are not commemorating and celebrating the great
events."
Corwin’s innovative work was introduced to a new
generation in the mid-1990s on National Public Radio. A series titled
"13 by Corwin," a selection of his programs from the 1940s, was
digitally remastered and distributed in 1996 as part of the NPR
Playhouse series.
Corwin greeted the new century with "Memos to a
New Millennium," narrated by Walter Cronkite and broadcast on public
radio. In a January 2000 interview, Corwin spoke of his optimism for the
next 1,000 years.
"As long as there is room for compassion in this world, we need not despair," he said.
Born
May 3, 1910, in Boston, Corwin began his career immediately after high
school as a reporter for The Greenfield Daily Recorder newspaper in
Massachusetts before turning to radio.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.