Air Date: Week of March 22, 2002

Host Steve Curwood remembers friend, mentor and World Media Foundation board member Tom Winship. Winship, the former editor of the Boston Globe, died earlier this month.

Transcript

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. And just ahead, the dilemma of wild horses. But first, I'd like to remember an old friend. Tom Winship, the former editor of The Boston Globe, died recently. He was on the board of the World Media Foundation, the parent organization that produces Living on Earth. And without him, this program might not be on the radio today.

When I was first shopping around the idea of creating this show, I got a variety of responses, most of them fairly skeptical. "Living on Earth?" someone asked. "Won't you run out of environmental stories? You'll be Dying on Earth in six months."

But when I pitched the idea to Tom Winship, he didn't miss a beat. "Go for it," he said instantly. "That would be super." And then he asked if he could help. But of course, he had already. I learned journalism in The Boston Globe newsroom, captained by Tom Winship. He led The Globe in defiance of the Nixon White House, and printed the Pentagon papers. He guided the paper through the searing years of school desegregation in Boston. And he brought home Pulitzer Prize after Pulitzer Prize. Most important, he taught me that the press needs to speak for those who would not otherwise be heard. And that the best stories aren't handed to you. You have to find them. And when you find them, they can be unpopular. Run them anyway. Just be sure that you are fair, accurate and timely.

The last time I saw Tom Winship, I knew his health was running out on him. But he seemed as fresh as I had ever known him. "How's it going?" he asked. I really didn't have a chance to answer when he said, "You've got something going there, Steve. Don't give it up." Thanks, Tom. I won't.

[MUSIC: Jeff Fahey, "Amazing Grace," DEATH MARCHES]