by Byron Pitts
So, my future fellow alumni, dream and dream boldly. When good men and good women dream, a runner breaks the four-minute mile. An astronaut steps foot on the moon. A doctor finds a cure for a terrible disease. A colored girl from the segregated South becomes Secretary of State. . . .
Class of 2006, what is your role? What do you dream? And you can’t dream without faith. Young people, degrees are good. But when trouble comes—and for you just entering the world beyond college, trouble will surely come—please know this. If you take one step, God will take two.
Have faith in something greater than yourself.
Now, I’m a Christian and proud of it. But whether you turn to a preacher or a priest, an imam or a rabbi, have a name you can call other than your own. You can’t dream without faith. And faith without love is empty love.
Now, I’m not talking about that kind of love you think you may have found on Fraternity Row during freshman year or at your first party in the Cave. I’m talking the kind of love I’ve seen on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s the kind of love angels bring. It’s the kind of love I experienced here at OWU, second term, freshman year. This is my testimony. I’m sure each of you has yours.
That term I was on academic probation. I had an English professor—for the record, he no longer teaches here.
To tell you how slow I was, I got a D in his class, first term, and took his class again the second term. This English professor knew me. I knew him. One day in class he handed out test scores in small blue notebooks, and when he handed me mine, he announced in a loud and clear voice to all my classmates, “Mr. Pitts, congratulations! Your best work thus far.” With a bit of surprise and a sense of relief, I opened that blue book, and there at the top of the page, in bold letters, was a D+. Seeing my anguish, the professor leaned forward and said, “Mr. Pitts, come see me after class.”
I did, and that English professor who no longer teaches here, said, “Mr. Pitts, may I speak frankly?” Before I could answer, he went on and said, and I quote (I carried this quote in my heart ever since). He said, “Mr. Pitts, your presence at Ohio Wesleyan University is a waste of my time and the government’s money. I think you should leave.”
“A waste of my time and the government’s money.” I was eighteen years old, and this man, this teacher, crushed my dreams. So taking his advice, I walked over to the admissions office and picked up papers to withdraw from school.
It was clear to me I was not worthy, so I sat outside Slocum Hall with tears running down my cheeks, filling out the forms to drop out of college. At that moment, a stranger walked by—a woman with a round face and a warm smile. She said, “Excuse me, young man, are you okay? May I help?” With nothing to lose, I explained my situation. She listened and said, “Come by and see me tomorrow. Do not leave school before talking with me.” I would soon find out that this stranger, another English professor, was not just a professor. She was my angel.
Dr. Ülle Lewes, please stand. Dr. Lewes. That day you didn’t simply soothe my tears. You saved my life. Thank you for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Thank you for being my angel.
Class of 2006, each of you have angels to thank for bringing you this far. I encourage you to thank each one. And don’t just thank them. By being a high achiever you can thank them. And you can thank them someday by being an angel for somebody else. Graduates, real success is not measured by how much you take from this life but by how much you give to it.
For those of you going on to graduate school, I say, give yourself to your studies and study the way Michelangelo painted. For those beginning careers or just taking summer jobs, learn to work like Martin Luther King. Live each day as if it’s your last. Don’t simply be good—be better. Better isn’t good enough, so be the best. Don’t settle for your best. Be an angel.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m an optimist. I believe in each of you. I believe in the promise of America, despite her many warts. America is still the greatest country on earth. Be good to her and she’ll be good to you. Love her and she’ll love you back. Be dreamers and be passionate about your dreams.
I leave you with the words of Horace Mann, the founder of nearby Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He told Antioch’s first graduating class: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”
To the graduating class of 2006 from Ohio Wesleyan University: Congratulations and God bless you. Today you make your family proud. Now go and make your world better—because you live.
Acknowledgments
THIS BOOK WOULD NOT have been possible without the kindness, patience, and hard work of many people and the whispered prayers of many more. I first would like to thank my wife, Lyne. Thanks to her, I married well. She’s been an encourager and a confidant. When I needed a push, she gave it. When I needed a hug, she gave one. Thanks to my family of course. My beloved grandmother, Roberta Mae Walden, who left us in 2000. My mother, sister, and brother; my aunts Gladys, Diane, Rebecca and Pat, along with uncles Albert, Alton, Fred, and Luther; and my late cousin Marian Sanders. Thanks to Dr. Ülle Lewes, who is an honorary family member, and to Dorthey Daniels and Andre Jones, who are the best friends a person could ever ask for.
I want to express my gratitude to all of my friends and colleagues at CBS News, who have made the last twelve years of my professional life the most rewarding. A special thanks to producers Betty Chin and Rodney Comrie, who have traveled the country with me in search of important truths worth telling. I’m also grateful for the support of Jeff Fager, Sean McManus, Les Moonves, Bill Felling, Terri Stewart, Larry Doyle, and (the late) Martin Gill. Thanks as well to Richard Liebner at N. S. Bienstock, my agent and my friend.
This book would have remained just a dream without Jan Miller and the team at Dupree/Miller and Associates. My thanks especially to agent Nena Madonia. They were all an answer to my prayers. I’m so grateful to St. Martin’s Press and my executive editor, Kathryn Huck. She has made the rough places smooth. I’d also like to acknowledge Howard Kurtz at the The Washington Post, because it was an article he wrote that set this project in motion, and Lisa Dallos, who believed in my story.
A special mention for college professor Verne Edwards and a dear friend in Boston, Maceo Vaughn.
To Daniel, Tiffani, Benjamin, Angela, Brittni, and Chris-tiani, I hope I make you as proud as you make me.
And thanks to all of you who have allowed me into your homes and into your lives to tell your stories. You have taught me more than you will ever know.
Index
BP stands for Byron Pitts.
ABC World News Tonight, 159
Abernathy, Ralph, 27
A Better L.A., 242
affirmative action hires, 170
Afghanistan
acts of kindness in, 211–15
Americans’ little knowledge of, 188
medical practice in, 198–99
post-9/11 war in, 183–208
Soviet war in, 188
three warnings to visitors, 184
women’s rights in, 213
African-Americans
in network reporting, 168–73
rising trajectory of, 263–64
Al Qaeda, 189
Alvarez, Manny, 222–26
Ambush Alley (Iraq), 237
anchorman
BP’s bid to be, shot down, 170
not BP’s ambition to be, 158
Anderson, Craig, 222–26
Anderson, Dave, 251
Anderson, Jack, 137
Andrews, Rev. Joseph, 237, 240
Angelou, Maya, “Still I Rise,” 263
“angels,” BP’s encouragement of, 268–69
anger
BP’s, over insults, 83–84
power of, 164, 262
Apex, North Carolina, 50
Archbishop Curley High School
(Baltimore, Maryland), 3, 71–90
“articulate,” word as coded insult, 172–73
Attuck
s, Crispus, 88
Austin, Saundra Jeannette (sister), 11, 13, 16
“back, watch your,” 64–65
“back, who’s got your,” 65, 78–79
Baghdad
acts of kindness in, 215–22
U.S. occupation of, 215–22
Baltimore, Maryland, 11, 12–13, 57, 91
1968 riots in, 136
churches, 26
East Baltimore, 94
Baltimore Colts, 14
baptism, 259
Barber, Eddie, 147–49
Bartholomew, Father, 84–87, 160
basketball, street, 62–63
Bayou La Batre, Alabama, 230–31
Belafonte, Harry, 177
Benjamin, Dr. Regina, 229–31
Bible passages
on index cards, sent by mother, 110–11
Psalm 23: 4-6, 206–7
bin Laden, Osama, 188–89
black colleges, 144
Boston
learning the network business in, 167–69
racially charged environment of, 169
Bradley, Ed, 135, 234
Brucker, Alex, 190
Brzezinski, Mika, 179
bullying, 56–60
car accident, BP’s reporting of a, 161–62
The Carolinian (Raleigh, North Carolina), 140–41
Carrington, Darryl, 251–52
Carroll, Pete, 242–43
Carter, Rev. Harold A., 27
CBS Evening News, 159, 189
report from Afghanistan, Nov. 12, 2001, 194–96
report from Baghdad, Iraq, April 9, 2003, 220–21
CBS News (organization), 2, 143, 173–81
in Baghdad, 245–46
base camp in northern Afghanistan, 188, 192
educational effects of working for, 209–11
and the Iraq War of 2003, 215–22
Miami bureau, 222
reporting on Hurricane Mitch, 222–26
Chin, Betty, 227–29
Choluteca River, 223
Ciprofloxacin, 199
Clarice, Sister, 23–24, 25
coaches, importance of, to BP, 65–71
college, importance of, to life success, 90, 93–94
contacts, a reporter’s, 168
Cook, George, 65–66, 78
Costanza, Tom, 160
Couric, Katie, 234
Cronkite, Walter, 135
cup, half-empty, half-full, or running over, 240–41
curfew, 62–64
death, eyewitnessing of, 181
Delaware, Ohio, 94
diversity, in news reporting, 168–69
Donna, Miss, 10, 16
Doyle, Larry, 190–94, 202, 204, 206, 208, 211–15, 222–26
drinking, 102, 191
driving in Afghanistan
accident, 199–201
at night, 206
drugs, BP offered, 94–95, 248
Dundalk accent, 91
dysentery, 198–99
The Early Show (CBS), 189
East Carolina University, 151
Edwards, Verne, 272
embed program, 215, 236–40
emotion, not a substitute for good reporting, 167–68
enemies, Chinese proverb about, 176
Estonia, 119–20
executive producers
correspondents visiting them to showcase their skills, 174
insulting interview with one, and the eventual outcome, 174–76
Fager, Jeff, 1–2, 241
faith
and heavy lifting, 157
teaches that there are no obstacles, 133
Farmer, Dr. Paul, 243–44
Father Bartholomew, 84–87, 160
fear
physical, in war reporting, 185, 206
trait from BP’s childhood, 209
firefight, in Iraq, being caught in, 217–19
flying in small planes, 223–24
football, 65–66
forgiveness, power of, 247–65
Fort Washington Elementary School (P.S. 85), 22
Franciscan priests, 71–72, 77
friends, few, in high school, 83
Friendship, North Carolina, 50
gang violence, 242
“the ghetto,” 147
Gill, Martin, 176–77
God
chances He has given, 171–72
doesn’t make mistakes, 260
grace of, 262–63
plan of, 133, 264
praying to, when making decisions, 235
sense of humor of, 176
source of strength, 262
will, that we live or die, 207
gold, digging for in one’s backyard (fable), 61–62
Gonzalez, Elian, 184
guards, 192
Haiti, 243–44
Hardee, Roy, 150, 154
hard work, importance of, 46–47, 84
Harris, Terrell, 162–64
Hazelwood, Ed, 164–65
Hemingway, Ernest, Old Man and the Sea, 82–83
history (academic subject), BP’s love of, 88–89
Holthe, Peter, 3, 98–103, 110, 139, 269–70, 273
Honduras, 222, 223
Hurricane Katrina, 230–31
Hurricane Lili, 227–29
Hurricane Mitch, 222–26
Hussein, Saddam
death of two sons of, celebration of, 245–46
statue toppled, 215
illiteracy
BP’s work in alleviating, 267–68, 270
hidden extent of, 267
incarceration, 69
interviewing, techniques of, 153–54
Iraq, U.S. occupation of, 215–22, 245
Iraq War of 2003, 215–22, 236–40
embedded assignments in, 236–40
few journalists volunteering for, 237
Ittner, Phil, 192
Jesus, 262, 263
Johnson, Riccie, 1
Johnson, Timmy, 62
journalism
college major in, 134–35
dangers in, 184–86
rules of (never stand when you can sit, etc.), 223
journalists
deaths of, 194, 207–8
preparation for Iraq War, 236, 237–40
respect shown to, by police, at rallies, 135–36
Kabul, advance toward, 189, 192, 197
Kennedy, John F., Jr., 12
Khoja Bahauddin, Afghanistan, 188, 211, 213
kindness
countless acts of, every day, 210–11
in war zones, 211–22
will take you a long way, 165
King, Emery, 137–38
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 27, 277
assassination, 135
King, Martin Luther, Sr., 27
Konduz, Afghanistan
battle of, 207
travel to, 201–7
Kroft, Steve, 234
Kuwait, 236
Laganga, Mark, 192, 197, 203, 206–8, 211, 215–16, 236
landmines, 193, 204–5
Lattimore, John, 77–78
laughter
power of, 235, 244–46
as release, 258–59
letters
handwritten, before the age of e-mail, 110
to loved ones, to be found after one’s death, 183, 186
Lewes, Dr. Ülle, 115–27, 139, 174, 209, 268, 276
Lewis, Rev. Benita, 3–4
Liebner, Richard, 241
Lima Company (U.S. Marines), 215, 219
Lopez, Vincenta, 224–26
Los Angeles, 242
Lucas, Dr. Paul, 103–6, 122–23, 124, 130, 270, 275
Mack, James, 67–71, 78, 209
Mackey, John, 14
Mann, Horace, 277
marijuana, BP’s experience with, 94–95
Marines, U.S., 215–22
Maryland State Department of Transportation, 90–93
Massoud, Ahmad Shah, 189
McGeough, P
aul, 194, 196, 197–98, 208
McManus, Sean, 241
Meaux, Louisiana, 226–29
medicine, in Afghanistan, 198–99
microphone, using a, 152–53
Miss Donna, 10, 16
Moonves, Leslie, 241
Morgan State College, 67
Mosul, 245
motivation, anger as, 164
Murphy, Mr. (dean of discipline), 72
Nazir family of Afghanistan
(Nazir, Fahranaz, Kambiz, and Vida), 211–15
NBC Evening News, 159
NBC News, 137
Neidbart, Francesca, 190
networking in business, 65
New Shiloh Baptist Church, 27–29, 68
choir, 30–31, 76–77
news organizations, traveling with, like a circus, 189–90
newsrooms
diversity in, 168–69
racism in, 169–73
New York Times, 102
Nicaragua, 222
nicknames, in BP’s family, 51–52
North Carolina, 51
Northern Alliance, 189, 192, 201
Northfolk, Virginia, 157–65
notebook, reporter’s, 164–65
Ohio Wesleyan University, 94–107
BP invited as commencement speaker, 270–77
BP’s academic difficulties at, 109–17
optimism, power of, 235, 240–44, 247
Palmer, Elizabeth, 213–15
Partners in Health, 243–44
patience, 233–34
Pelley, Scott, 234
Pitts, Byron
academic difficulties, in college, 97, 104–7, 133–34
academic difficulties, in grade school, 21–25, 32–37, 39–47
academic difficulties, in high school, 84–88
after-school jobs in high school, 86
attempted meeting with famed sports radio announcer, rebuffed, 141–43
boyhood summers, 49–55
childhood homes, 12–13, 67
church, importance of, in early years, 25–32
college goal, 85–87, 90, 93–94
college graduation, 139–40
college senior year, 134–35
complimented for being articulate, 172–73