Despite his reputation as television’s master of deadpan, Brian Lamb turns out to be exceptionally engaging and well informed, with strong opinions concerning the value of military service, the importance of history, and the condition of broadcast media today. In fact, an address Mr. Lamb delivered recently convinced us he would make an interesting interview subject for Naval History.
His Navy service included a tour in the Johnson White House and as a Pentagon public affairs officer during the Vietnam War. After the Navy, he served as a freelance reporter for United Press International, a Senate press secretary, a White House telecommunications policy staffer, a newsletter publisher (The Media Report), and bureau chief of Cablevision magazine. He is now known to no-nonsense cable television viewers as the host of “Booknotes” on the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network— C-SPAN—which he founded in 1979.
“Brian Lamb takes self-effacing to a new level,” was Naval Institute oral historian Paul Stillwell’s reaction after reading the transcript of our interview. When Susan Swain, C-SPAN’s executive vice president, heard about Paul’s remark, she said: “That’s what makes working with Brian so great. He’s really like that. I think it’s the Hoosier in him.” We think you’ll find Mr. Lamb’s thoughts refreshing, and Ms. Swain offers here her recommended reading list from his best-selling Booknotes: Stories from American History, (New York: Public Affairs, 2001).
Also in this issue, retired Navy Captain Sherman Alexander takes us behind the scenes of a television series on which he served as “technical representative,” the 39-episode Men of Annapolis. This story of “classic Hollywood motives, Naval Academy expectations, enthusiasm from all involved, and ultimate disillusionment” from 1957 suggests that the nation’s service academies have been grappling with image and perception issues for a long time. As the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation and the U.S. Naval Institute prepare to convene “How Do the Service Academies Maintain Relevance?”—the latest in a series of annual cosponsored seminars held at the McCormick Cantigny estate in Illinois and before a broader audience in Annapolis, this year on 3 April—we thought some historical perspective was in order. Captain Alexander’s “Men of Annapolis: Good Show?” might even advance the discussion.