CAL THOMAS COMMENTARY MAY 7, 2021
BOB ABERNETHY DIED LAST WEEK AT 93. WHO WAS HE? BOB WORKED FOR NBC NEWS IN THE 60S AND 70S WHEN I WAS FIRST A COPYBOY AND THEN A REPORTER. HE LATER HOSTED A WEEKLY TV PROGRAM ON PBS ABOUT RELIGION, A STILL LITTLE COVERED SUBJECT.
ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963. ABERNETHY ENTERED THE NEWSROOM AND WAS SURPRISED AT THE CHAOS. “WHAT’S GOING ON?” HE ASKED ME. I REPLIED, “KENNEDY HAS BEEN SHOT.” HIS CAR RADIO WAS NOT ON. HIS FACE TURNED ASHEN. LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER PRESIDENT KENNEDY WOULD BE DEAD.
ABERNETHY GREW UP IN A CHRISTIAN HOME. AS THE WASHINGTON POST OBITUARY NOTED: “THE TAPESTRY OF HIS CHRISTIAN UPBRINGING, A LOVE OF ‘OLD HYMNS’ AND THE ENDURING LESSONS OF HIS CHILDHOOD SHAPED HIS EVENTUAL CAREER AT PBS…BUT HE WAS DEEPLY AFFECTED BY HIS YEARS ABROAD DURING THE COLD WAR, WHICH LEFT HIM WITH A SENSE THAT RELIGION AND ETHICS WERE NOT BEING EXPLORED IN THE AMERICAN MEDIA BEYOND ANTI-COMMUNIST SLOGANEERING.”
I WILL REMEMBER BOB ABERNETHY AS A KIND MAN WHO EXHIBITED HIS FAITH IN WAYS MANY COULD EMULATE. HE WAS PART OF MY ORIGINAL CAST OF CORRESPONDENTS AT NBC NEWS. THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN KNOWING. I’M CAL THOMAS
