NEWS

NEWBERRY — Dr. Jodie M. Peeler, professor of communications at Newberry College, has published a new book, "Peace: The Wide, Wide World of Dave Garroway, Television's Original Master Communicator" (Tyger River Press, 2023).

Peeler's book is the first to cover the life of the groundbreaking original host of NBC’s morning show, “Today.” Garroway hosted the show from 1952 until 1961.

“I have been fascinated with television history for almost as long as I can remember, and Dave Garroway was a big presence in those days,” said Peeler. “The older I got, the more it bothered me that he was so forgotten, or that when he was talked about, it was in terms of how he died or about his later years, when his world started to fall apart.”

Peeler dove into the subject in 2015, when she befriended radio journalist Brandon Hollingsworth, who had begun work on his own biography of Garroway. The two decided to combine their efforts, and Hollingsworth compiled much of the source material. Peeler visited the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, where much of NBC’s corporate archives are preserved. She also drew on more than 3,000 newspaper articles that span Garroway’s life and later legacy. Peeler said her research received a great boon when, after years of trying, she made contact with Dave Garroway Jr. in 2018.

“As it turned out, he had wanted to write a book about his dad,” said Peeler. “A short while later, while he and his sister, Paris, were on the East Coast to see after some family business, they drove to Newberry. We spent a couple of wonderful days together, and they told stories about their famous dad and showed me photographs and other keepsakes from the family's collection. Dave Jr. also gave me a collection of short stories he had written about his experiences with his dad. We worked out an agreement on the book, and I proceeded with their blessing.”

Peeler said she worked on the book off and on throughout 2020, often in the quiet hours of the early morning. She completed her final draft on Christmas night, and sent a copy to the Garroways.

“[Dave Jr.] thought it was a perfect Christmas present and was looking forward to reviewing it,” she said. “Unfortunately, about a month later, Dave Jr. passed away. Paris eventually took the project back up with me and we moved ahead, and she wrote a beautiful tribute to her brother as an epilogue.”

Peeler said she hopes to give overdue insight and recognition to Dave Garroway, the man.

“He was a man with a thousand fascinations. He turned a chance meeting into a broadcasting career. He literally made himself into a broadcast personality through pure will and incredible effort after he had been told he didn't have what it took,” she said. “‘Today’ is an institution now, and we can't think of television without a morning news program. But it took a Dave Garroway to turn skeptics into believers.

“My book doesn't shy away from the difficult subjects in Dave Garroway's life, but I also hope it provides insight on the good things he did, the innovations he helped turn into things we take for granted, and the life of a man who lived in interesting times, for broadcasting as well as the world at large,” she added.

"Peace: The Wide, Wide World of Dave Garroway, Television's Original Master Communicator" is available from the publisher.

Peeler, a member of the Newberry College faculty since 2001, is also the author of "Ben Robertson: South Carolina Journalist and Author” (University of South Carolina Press, 2019) and “Touring Greenwood County” (2020).