Catalyze

Episode 13: Jim Reston ’63

Episode Summary

You're about to hear from author and playwright Jim Reston, who graduated in the Morehead-Cain Class of 1963. Jim is from Washington, D.C. and has been not only an eyewitness to major historical events of the last few decades, but actually participated in them: from the Civil Rights movement, to the Vietnam War, to the Watergate scandal, and more. Jim's father was James Reston Sr, a prominent New York Times journalist and editor—but Jim managed to blaze his own trail in the writing world. Jim has published eighteen books, three plays, and numerous articles in national magazines. His various works have been translated into many different languages, optioned by Hollywood, and included on international best-seller lists. From 1976 to 1977, Jim advised David Frost for the famous Frost/Nixon Interviews, which 57 million people watched from around the world. His narrative of that experience, published in 2007, was the main inspiration for the hit London play, "Frost/Nixon." In the Hollywood adaptation of the play, which was nominated for five Academy Awards, Jim's character is played by the actor Sam Rockwell. Jim has been a fellow at the American Academy in Rome, a fellow at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, and a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

Episode Notes

You're about to hear from author and playwright Jim Reston, who graduated in the Morehead-Cain Class of 1963. Jim is from Washington, D.C. and has been not only an eyewitness to major historical events of the last few decades, but actually participated in them: from the Civil Rights movement, to the Vietnam War, to the Watergate scandal, and more.

Jim's father was James Reston Sr, a prominent New York Times journalist and editor—but Jim managed to blaze his own trail in the writing world. Jim has published eighteen books, three plays, and numerous articles in national magazines. His various works have been translated into many different languages, optioned by Hollywood, and included on international best-seller lists.

From 1976 to 1977, Jim advised David Frost for the famous Frost/Nixon Interviews, which 57 million people watched from around the world. His narrative of that experience, published in 2007, was the main inspiration for the hit London play, "Frost/Nixon." In the Hollywood adaptation of the play, which was nominated for five Academy Awards, Jim's character is played by the actor Sam Rockwell.

Jim has been a fellow at the American Academy in Rome, a fellow at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, and a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.