Robert Pierpoint covered six presidents as a White House correspondent, including President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. In all, he spent 40 years at CBS News.
But only two people have ever touched Pierpoint’s notes#Pierpoint himself and USF St. Petersburg’s Tony Silvia, professor of journalism and media studies.
Silvia spoke Wednesday at Nelson Poynter Memorial Library regarding his new book “Robert Pierpoint: A Life at CBS News.”
While doing research for the story, Silvia looked through Pierpoint’s reporter notebooks. Silvia said it gave him the feeling of discovery. He said he got to know Pierpoint through his personal notebooks.
Pierpoint played an important role in the coverage of the Korean War. He did a radio broadcast in Korea at the cease fire. Pierpoint recreated the original broadcast for the final episode of MASH, which is the highest rated TV finale in history.
Silvia played the clip from MASH. In the broadcast, Pierpoint announces the end of the war, but pauses for a moment. After a moment of silence, Pierpoint says “that’s the sound of peace.”
During the speech, Silvia humored the audience with an excerpt from the book’s foreword, written by Face the Nation’s Bob Schieffer.
“Silvia tells how Pierpoint once tried to get a comment from John Kennedy and used a beautiful White House visitor as “bait” in hope of attracting Kennedy’s attention. Kennedy took the bait, stopped to chat with the lady but moved on before Pierpoint could ask a question.”
Silvia explains how Pierpoint overcame odds at a young age. He suffered childhood asthma which, at that time, was treated as tuberculosis. Pierpoint spent the majority of his childhood at a sanitarium. Silvia says that Pierpoint’s childhood in isolation gave young Pierpoint a lot of time to think.
“Asthma influenced my life for many years afterward, and may have been the best thing that ever happened to me,” Pierpoint says, quoted by Silvia.
Pierpoint never studied journalism and believed that journalist should know something about other countries, cultures, history and anthropology. Silvia says Pierpoint was a “better reporter, better journalist because he strived to be a better person.”
“Pierpoint was a pro with a passion for accuracy,” Schieffer said in the forward of the book.
