PrintJuly 31, 2007
Tom Snyder (1936-2007): A Personal Recollection
For people of a certain age, Tom Snyder, who died on July 29 at age 71, was a major figure - a pioneer - in television news and talk programming. He burst on the national scene in 1973 as the unconventional host of the Tomorrow Show which ran for eight years each weekday night on the NBC TV network following another institution, The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. After the societal upheavals of the 1960s in which the media and on air reporters played a pivotal role, Snyder was a different kind of figure who became influential in his own right. He heralded a new era, bridging the old black-and-white, teletype clattering in the background, Cronkite/Huntley/Brinkley style of TV presentation and the new, full color, hyper-confessional Oprah-esque world that would come to dominate the scene starting in the 1980s.Throughout his career - on Tomorrow, anchoring local TV newscasts, hosting call-in radio talk shows, and returning to cable and then broadcast television for a last round in the...(Read Full Article)
