Manuscripts

Thomas, William F

Description: 1 item: 42-pp. transcript (pp. 100 - 141) of interview of Bill Thomas (LAT Editor) by Marshall Berges. Notable names and subjects include: Lyndon B. Johnson ; LAT in relation to Times Mirror Corporation and other holdings (pp. 105 - 106) ; memories of backlash over a Robert Scheer article on the Jewish community that was not well received in all quarters (pp. 107 - 110+) ; wide-ranging memories of incidents and people at LAT during the 1960s and 1970s ; Thomas answers the question, "Do we need an editorial page?" (pp. 122 - 124) ; moving Conrad's cartoons to Op Ed (pp. 125 - 126) ; political polls, Mervin Field, etc. (pp. 127 - 129) ; more.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1980
Call number: mssLAT
Creator: Los Angeles Times (Firm)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: The Los Angeles Times,

Thomas, William F

Manuscripts

1 item: 69-pp. transcript of interview with William (Bill) Thomas, LAT Editor. Notable names and subjects include: just after becoming Editor Thomas "dismantle(d) the Washington Bureau...I felt it had to be done" (pp. 4 - 7+) ; David Kraslow of DC Bureau ; John Lawrence and legal issues (pp. 10 - 21+) ; GeoTek (pp. 27 - 28+) ; George Cotliar (pp. 35 - 36) ; Richard Meyer's writes on a "permanent underclass" and its effect on crime and black on white crime (pp. 40 - 41+) ; TM-sponsored dinner for Sen. Howard Baker (pp. 46) ; the "Senior Writers" program (pp. 47 - 50+) ; Ed Guthman ; more.

mssLAT

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Thomas, William F

Manuscripts

3 items: 14-pp. transcript of "Taping with William F. Thomas, Editor of The Times," 5/21/1975 - begins with Thomas' answer to the general question of "the differences between Nick Williams' editorial tenure and [his]" ; 19-pp. transcript of "Second taping with Wm. Thomas, Editor of The Times," 6/30/1975 - begins with a question on LAT political endorsements and widens out to many other topics ; 18-pp. transcript of "Third taping with Bill Thomas," 7/7/1975 - begins with subject of Watergate coverage and widens out.

mssLAT

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Murphy, Mark

Manuscripts

1 item: 126-pp. transcript of interview with Mark Murphy by Marshall Berges. Subject include: description of his typical day ; sizing up job applicants (pp. 11) ; dealing with his assistants (pp. 18) ; "we don't cover our own city as thoroughly as we should" (pp. 45) ; his childhood and family background (pp. 49 - 60) ; at Brigham Young University (pp. 63 - 64) ; he was raised Mormon, though later non-practicing (at time of interview) by age 22 he and wife had 2 children ; hired as copyreader at Salt Lake Tribune (pp. 64) ; after one month at Tribune, accepts news editor post in Pendleton, OR, that he had applied for previously (pp. 66) ; after 2 and a half years in Pendleton, he goes to The Oregonian in Portland ; hired at LAT (pp. 73) ; described Editor Frank Haven - "he acted like an oaf in (some) ways" - apparently he had a gutter mouth (pp.75) ; discusses David Shaw and Robert Scheer, two talented but controversial writers at LAT (pp. 91 - 93) ; more.

mssLAT

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Employees - Thomas, William

Manuscripts

Approx. 30 items: collection of correspondence and other material on Robert Gottlieb's controversial (at LAT) book on LAT (mid-1970s); LAT reprint, article from 1/1/1989, "Good writing, long stories and freedom," by David Shaw, on the legacy of Thomas at the time of his retirement as Exec. VP and Editor of the paper: tear sheet of previous article; additional stories on the accomplishments of Thomas and The Times during his tenure; selection of LAT and Among Ourselves articles on Thomas from 1960s and 1970s; 11-pp. transcript of interview, "L.A. Times -- Bill Thomas -- R#11"; other materials.

mssLAT

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Williams, Nick B. - Tapes #1 & #2

Manuscripts

Approx. 20 items: 22-pp. transcript of "...initial taping with Nick B. Williams, former Editor of The Times," by James Bassett, 6/5/1973 - subjects include NBW's memories of his youth and early newspaper career in Tennessee and Texas and his coming to Los Angeles and getting into newspaper work in the 1930s ; 44-pp. transcript of "Tape 2...NBW & JB," an in-depth discussion of the Norman Chandler era moving into the Otis Chandler era at LAT, the changes in editorial policy, the move from the political right to the center (or at least representing various views along the political spectrum) in Editorial content and striving for unbiased news stories, union efforts to get a toehold at LAT - would it be good if LAT were the only paper in L.A.? Williams answers "no" (pp. 33) - gossip columnists, investigative reporting - Vietnam, the Red Chinese, the Soviets ; 57-pp. transcript of "Taping with Nick Williams (6/7/1973) 3rd Taping" - the Birch Society series, examples given of instances in which NC did not support Republican candidates that were right wing "kooks" (4 - 7) - Barry Goldwater, correspondence with Norman Chandler, Dorothy Chandler and Williams - Watts Riots (pp. 19- 22) - pornographic movies (pp. 29 - 31) - more related bio notes and materials on Williams.

mssLAT

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Scheer, Robert

Manuscripts

1 item: 130-pp. transcript of interview with journalist Robert Scheer. Notable names and subjects include: he describes his freelance writing career as of mid-1970s - Playboy (magazine), book contract, editing gig at New Times (pp. 1 - 3) ; Scheer hired by Los Angeles Times, 1976 (pp. 7) ; anecdotes about working methods ; writing on the "Jewish Community" ; immigration ; his thoughts on Q & A format (45 - 46) ; more on his methods ; Scheer talks about childhood in The Bronx (pp. 55 - 57) ; "my bleeding liberalism, (or whatever) the right word is" (pp. 57) ; more on youth & background, Scheer is part Jewish, part secular Catholic, and very liberal (pp. 60 - 61) ; Scheer and first wife want to "escape" her strict orthodox Jewish background by going west (pp. 65) ; his studies at UC Berkeley and acquaintance with Al Martinez, Bill Boyarsky, Oakland Tribune writers, and William Knowland, Publisher (pp. 67) ; Lawrence Ferlinghetti (pp. 71 - 72) ; Scheer makes several references throughout the interview to his 1976 interview of pres. candidate Jimmy Carter that appeared in Playboy (magazine). ; first impression on joining Los Angeles Times (pp. 84 - 86) ; his views on Jerry Brown (pp. 117).

mssLAT

Thomas, William F

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