Bill Moyers, a pioneer of thoughtful long-form television journalism and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, passed away on Thursday at the age of 91.
Born in the small East Texas town of Marshall, Moyers discovered his passion for journalism at just 16 years old, landing a job with the Marshall News Messenger.
He commenced his college education at North Texas State, where he met and married Judith Davidson. They later transferred to The University of Texas, where Moyers pursued his degree in journalism.
To support himself through his studies, he worked 40 hours a week as a reporter for local station KTBC, often responding to crime and accident scenes in a red station wagon he affectionately named “The Red Rover.”
Moyers graduated from The University of Texas with a degree in journalism in 1956.
He then spent five years in the Baptist seminary, which included a year at the University of Edinburgh.
Although he eventually chose to return to journalism, his experiences during this time influenced his broad interests and the spiritual depth that would characterize his work in the years to come.
In 1959, just as he was about to begin a Ph.D. program at The University of Texas, Moyers received an invitation from then Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson to join his presidential campaign.
When Johnson ascended to the vice presidency, Moyers was appointed deputy director of the Peace Corps. Following Johnson’s elevation to the presidency, he brought Moyers into the White House as his special assistant and briefly as chief of staff.
Throughout his life, Moyers maintained a deep connection to The University of Texas, frequently returning to the campus for various events.
He participated in symposia at the LBJ Presidential Library and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Texas Exes in 1986.
He also celebrated the centennial of The Daily Texan and delivered the commencement address in 2000.
In a revealing interview with UT’s alumni magazine, The Alcalde, in 2000, Moyers described The Forty Acres as “the place of my second birth.”
When reflecting on his journey as a journalist and his ambitious decision to create a six-hour television series on the Book of Genesis, he remarked, “It never occurred to me that I couldn’t. I trace that directly to my experience at The University of Texas.”
Moyers articulated that prior to transferring to UT, he had not seen the connection between journalism and the humanities.
He noted that during his time at The University of Texas in the 1950s, there was a unique synergy among disciplines, suggesting that influential figures from various fields were discussing the same essential concepts about life and the mind.
He recalled how every course and experience was interconnected, stating, “All the strands came together. It wasn’t deliberate; it was just the atmosphere here.”
Moyers expressed gratitude for the educational environment at UT that shaped his journalistic approach, differentiating it from others, while not claiming it to be superior.
This environment fostered a nurturing understanding of how seemingly unrelated experiences are interconnected, enriching Moyers’ journalism.
His affinity for storytelling also blossomed during his time at UT, where he first encountered Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With a Thousand Faces.”
Decades later, this influence culminated in the six-hour interview series “Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth,” which became one of his most cherished works.
Moyers reflected on the series, stating, “I don’t think anything I’ve done has had that much impact. People stop me today and say, ‘That changed my life.’”
He co-edited the companion book to the series with then-UT English professor Betty Sue Flowers, who later became the director of the LBJ Presidential Library.
Moyers recognized the success of this and other programs such as “Genesis,” “Healing and the Mind,” “Close to Home,” and “A World of Ideas,” attributing their resonance to striking a chord with the zeitgeist.
These programs served as amplifiers for significant themes, gaining traction despite being produced for a smaller network like PBS.
He commented on the interconnectedness of life and ideas, stating, “I think that if that’s the case, it’s because, like The University of Texas, I don’t see things in isolation.”
Despite being offered faculty positions at the University twice, he chose to remain in New York where he and Judith raised their children in the northeast.
Nonetheless, he remarked unwaveringly, “This [UT] is the place to which I do return.”
In response to inquiries about his frequent visits back to campus, he expressed, “Because it’s the place of my second birth. I became intellectually awakened here.”
Moyers likened his return to his birthplace, asserting that it allowed him to reconnect with his true self, a vital part of his identity stemmed from his formative experiences at UT.
He acknowledged that many landmarks from his youth have changed or gone, but he maintained that the core physical and emotional touchstones remain.
“The Tower is still there. The Legislature is still there. The live oaks are still there, and there is a very palpable memory here, a living memory of what I felt and experienced.”
As he reminisced about the invigorating classes he attended, Moyers noted the lasting impact the educators had on him.
He recalled with clarity how invigorating their classes were, remembering the exhilaration he felt in lectures on various subjects, from philosophy to journalism.
Concluding, he remarked, “Some people talk that way about their religious conversions. But I have that still fresh sense of really coming alive here.”
He expressed that returning to The University of Texas was returning to a vital part of himself, a homecoming that reminded him of the roots of his intellect and curiosity.
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