Alistair Cooke Biography

Alistair Cooke, Journalist

Attr: By Trikosko, Marion S.

Born as	Alfred Alistair Cooke
Known as	Alfred Cooke
Occup.	Journalist
From	USA
Born	November 20, 1908 Salford, England, United Kingdom
Died	March 30, 2004 New York City, New York, USA
Cause	Lung cancer
Aged	95 years

Early Life and Education
Alfred Alistair Cooke was born upon November 20, 1908, in Salford, Lancashire, England. He showed a keen interest in literature and storytelling from an early age. He went to Blackpool Grammar School and won a scholarship to go to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he studied English and got substantial exposure to literature and theater.

Transfer to the United States
In 1932, Cooke got a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship to study in the United States, where he enrolled at Yale University and later at Harvard University. His time in the U.S. marked a considerable juncture in his life, where he first came across and ended up being deeply fascinated with American culture and society.

Career in Journalism and Broadcasting
After completing his studies, Cooke went back to England briefly before moving completely to the United States in the mid-1930s. Throughout his remarkable career, he was known for his informative and often amusing observations of American life.

He ended up being a U.S. reporter for the British press and especially began working for the BBC as a film critic and cultural commentator. In 1946, he began his most famous broadcast, "Letter from America", a weekly program on BBC Radio in which he provided an often personal and comprehensive analysis of American life and politics. The program ran for an astonishing 58 years up until soon before his death, making it one of the longest-running radio programs in history.

Emphasizes and Contributions
During his career, Cooke covered numerous significant events and shifts in American society, including the Civil Rights Movement, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the Watergate scandal, and other turning points. He was understood for his capability to convey the American experience to his British audience in a relatable and interesting manner.

In addition to "Letter from America", Cooke also provided the popular tv series "Alistair Cooke's America" in 1972-73, which provided a substantial summary of the history and character of the United States.

Personal Life
Alistair Cooke married Ruth Emerson in 1934, with whom he had one kid before the couple divorced. He later married Jane White Hawkes, with whom he had a daughter, Susan. Cooke became a naturalized American resident in 1941, even more cementing his bond with the nation that he explained with such love and insight.

Legacy and Death
Cooke's contributions to journalism and his distinct point of view on American life left an enduring mark on both the U.S. and the UK. His ability to interpret and tell the complexities of American society for an international audience gathered him extensive respect and adoration.

Alistair Cooke passed away on March 30, 2004, in New York City, a couple of weeks after retiring from broadcasting. His tradition continues to influence reporters and broadcasters who aim to bridge cultures through insightful reporting and commentary.

Our collection contains 14 quotes who is written / told by Alistair.

Related authors: Martin Luther King Jr. (Minister), John F. Kennedy (President), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Alastair Cook centuries
A: Alastair Cook scored 33 centuries in Test cricket.
Q: Alastair Cook wife
A: Alastair Cook's wife is Alice Hunt.
Q: Alistair Cooke obituary
A: Alistair Cooke's obituary was widely covered by major media outlets after his death in 2004.
Q: Alistair Cooke born
A: Alistair Cooke was born on November 20, 1908.
Q: Alistair Cooke daughter
A: His daughter is Susan Cooke Kittredge.
Q: Alistair Cooke Letter from America
A: Letter from America was a long-running radio series presented by Alistair Cooke for the BBC.
Q: Alistair Cooke death
A: Alistair Cooke died on March 30, 2004.
Q: How old was Alistair Cooke?
A: He became 95 years old

Alistair Cooke Famous Works:

1973 Alistair Cooke's America (Book)
1979 The Americans: Fifty Talks on Our Life and Times (Book)
1999 Memories of the Great & the Good (Book)
2004 Letter from America (Book)

Source / external links:

14 Famous quotes by Alistair Cooke

"Cocktail music is accepted as audible wallpaper"

"Hollywood grew to be the most flourishing factory of popular mythology since the Greeks"

"Curiosity endows the people who have it with a generosity in argument and a serenity in their own mode of life which springs from their cheerful willingness to let life take the form it will"

"It's an acting job - acting natural"

"People in America, when listening to radio, like to lean forward. People in Britain like to lean back"

"These humiliations are the essence of the game"

"Canned music is like audible wallpaper"

"People, when they first come to America, whether as travelers or settlers, become aware of a new and agreeable feeling: that the whole country is their oyster"

"As always, the British especially shudder at the latest American vulgarity, and then they embrace it with enthusiasm two years later"

"Man has an incurable habit of not fulfilling the prophecies of his fellow men"

"Curiosity is free-wheeling intelligence"

"These doomsday warriors look no more like soldiers than the soldiers of the Second World War looked like conquistadors. The more expert they become the more they look like lab assistants in small colleges"

"A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn't feel like it"

"The best compliment to a child or a friend is the feeling you give him that he has been set free to make his own inquiries, to come to conclusions that are right for him, whether or not they coincide with your own"