Black Voices

Issue date: 11/29/06 Section: News

Lena Horne. An interview with the classic American beauty, singer and actress was his favorite. Watching the 1981 60 minutes piece, you won't see a jazz fan in awe but a journalist, simply trying to share Horne's story with the world.

Ed Bradley, died on November 9th at Mt. Sinai Medical Center of complications from chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

After 26 years at CBS' 60 minutes his legacy is hard to define. Not because he was anything short of fascinating to the millions that tuned in to watch his interviews every Sunday. But because he was so loved that there simply aren't enough words to describe his work or his life.

For over thirty years, Bradley has been there. Sitting down with Dr. Martin Luther King for a radio interview, trailing President Jimmy Carter before he was elected and listening to the stories of AIDS victims in Africa and re-telling the story of Emmett Till. Even when Hurricane Katrina hit, he was right there.

But it wasn't all about big names for Bradley. He shared the stories of the underrepresented, the poor and the mistreated.

Raised in Philadelphia, after graduating college, Bradley went to work as a school teacher. With no formal journalism training he worked his way into the business going from a local DJ to a WCBS correspondent and eventually a 60 Minutes reporter.

Adam Clayton Powell III, professor at USC, remembers his friend and former colleague for his hard work and powerful voice. While traveling with the Jimmy Carter presidential campaign Bradley noticed that his audio technician wasn't on the train.

"The train started to move and he said in a great booming voice, 'STOP THIS TRAIN!' The train stopped," Powell recalls. Bradley quickly became known as the only journalists whose voice could stop a train.

Bradley's voice contrasted his tendency to keep his personal life private. Which explains why many of his friends and colleagues had no idea that he was dying of leukemia.

"He was private but he wasn't standoffish," Powell said. In the newsroom Bradley never let his big anchor status go to his head, "Once you're an anchor, you don't have to do favors. But he would go out of his way."

On the day of his death, it was hard to miss the news of Bradley's death. Media outlets throughout the country paid respects to the journalist because it was an honor for many to call him their colleague.

"Ed could work by himself and look good," Powell said. He was a good journalist because he was a good listener first.

"He could do an interview and without looking tell his cameraman where to go for b-roll."

Even after decades in the business Bradley never lost the excitement that came with a new assignment.

Everyone has their own impression of the newsman, good journalist, funny man, jazz lover, great listener. No matter how he is remembered Powell says everyone can agree on one fact.

"People could see he was who he was."

Mr. Bradley is survived by his wife, Patricia Blanchet.

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