Norman Corwin: May 3 1910 – October 18 2011.
Anything I know about drama today comes more from Norman Corwin than anybody.
—Robert AltmanNorman’s passion for the world, the human race, is in the very marrow of his words.
—Studs Terkel
In this NPR story for the Kitchen Sisters Lost & Found Sound, producer Mary Beth Kirchner sits down with Norman Corwin to remember his four month flight around the globe, and the resulting radio series. (The original 13-episode 1946 series is at Internet Archive.)
The trailer for Anthracite Films “The Poet Laureate of Radio:”
When radio was king, Norman Corwin was its prime minister.
—Larry KingThere’s nobody quite like Norman Corwin. Not only is he in love with the English language, but as a former reporter, he knows how to arrive at the ‘who, what, where, and why.’
—William Shatner
Celebrating the Allied victory in Europe, first broadcast on VE Day 1945.
“On May 8, 1945, 60 million Americans tuned in to hear ‘On A Note of Triumph,’ Norman Corwin’s radio masterpiece marking the end of World War II in Europe. Lauded by Carl Sandburg as ‘one of the all-time great American poems,’ it was the most listened-to radio drama in U.S. history.”
—NPR Documentary on the Life and Work of CorwinYou assemble, orchestrate, time and chime. To have the technique and then have something of history, past and present, to shape and utter it so it haunts listeners with big meaning for the hour, that is being alive. I am proud to have known you.
—Carl Sandburg
Corwin interview excerpt about “On a Note of Triumph:”
Transom: Prayer from “On a Note Of Triumph”
Transom: Norman Corwin- Review
Radio Hall of Fame: Norman Corwin, Writer
Wikipedia: Norman Corwin
NormanCorwin.com: Citizen of the World, Poet Laureate of Radio
Internet Archive Search: Norman Corwin
You don’t know Corwin? Think of the most important person in radio you have ever known — Corwin is more important.
—Mark Ramsey
Ten CD set (only $30) at Amazon: Norman Corwin: Centennial (10 CD Set)
Corwin’s eloquent prose is breathtakingly incisive. This wonderful work only bolsters Norman Corwin’s already secure place in the pantheon of America’s greatest writers and thinkers.
—Walter CronkiteHe taught us then not only how to open our mouths but how to insert bright pebbles beneath our tongues so that eventually we might fire forth a sentence not only worth listening to but thinking about.
—Ray Bradbury
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