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"B" is for Blair, Frank

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  "B" is for Blair, Frank [1915-1995]. Broadcaster, author. A native of Yemassee, Blair served in the Navy during World War II. A deep-voiced broadcaster, a mainstay of NBC’s “The Today Show” from 1952 to 1975, he got his start in broadcasting at radio station WCSC in Charleston in 1935. After the war, Blair joined NBC and moderated “The American Forum of the Air,” a debate program. When the “Today Show” was launched in 1952, he was named Washington correspondent. During his 23 years on the show, he worked with 25 hosts. In his autobiography, Let’s Be Frank About It, he described the pressures of the job and his bouts with alcohol. Frank Blair resigned from the show in 1975 and retired to Hilton Head Island, but continued recording commercials and syndicated radio programs.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.