Good Ol' Ed

Before I let 2019 slip into the past, I want to make some comments on a belated birthday, that of cultural icon Ed Asner, who turned ninety in November.

Asner has been a solid actor in roles ranging from Santa Claus to Pope John XXIII, but his greatest role will always be that of Lou Grant, the gruff but lovable newsman on CBS's "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and on the sequel-spinoff "Lou Grant."  I'd like to concentrate on the latter show, because it was with "Lou Grant" that Asner became a cultural icon  "Lou Grant" illustrated the drama and the politics of the office of a metropolitan newspaper (in this case, the fictional Los Angeles Tribune), and watching episodes of the series - which I was unable to do when it was on CBS between 1977 and 1982, because I was too young to stay up that late - is as educational as any college journalism course, exploring the tension of covering breaking-news stories and also ethical issues that consume journalism, such as plagiarism, protecting sources, staging news photos, conflicts of interest, and the dangers of investigative reporting.  Asner has said that he's proud of having played Lou Grant, because Grant was a newsman who regarded journalism as a scared calling and always sought to report the truth at all costs.  Episodes of "Lou Grant" are currently available on YouTube.

Asner's political leanings - he was a democratic socialist long before anyone ever hear of Bernie Sanders - might have caused CBS to cancel "Lou Grant."  He was active in the opposition to President Reagan's Central America policy and was president of the Screen Actors Guild, in which he voiced views that were unwelcome in early-eighties America (and may still be unwelcome in today's America), and Asner still believes that, like the Smothers Brothers before him, he wasn't so much canceled by CBS as he was fired.  (CBS denied that Asner's political views were the reason that"Lou Grant" was canceled, citing a slip in its ratings in its latter two seasons.)  Asner has since pushed on, still working as an actor and still active in politics (he supports Bernie Sanders for President), and his longevity and his average-Joe image are what have made him a legend. :-)

Below is a public-service ad Asner made for the "Reading Is Fundamental" campaign to promote literacy in America.