Westways honors Norman Corwin

From 1973–1980, Norman Corwin wrote a monthly column for "Westways," the Auto Club magazine, and more recently wrote occasionally in its pages on topics such as Hearst Castle and The Huntington Library. In response to Corwin's death on Tuesday, editor John Lehrer reprints a 2009 interview with him and posts an appreciation. Excerpt:

Although a bit frail in his final years, Norman never lost his love of life and language, his sense of humor and wit, nor his compassion for his fellow human beings. He was traveling to do talks and book signings at 100.

Norman lived a life of superlatives. Acknowledged as the country’s foremost radio dramatist, he was also a producer, a playwright, a poet, a screenwriter, and a professor at USC. During World War II, he inspired millions of Americans with his radio broadcasts. A few weeks after Pearl Harbor, more than 60 million Americans tuned in to hear We Hold These Truths. His masterpiece, On a Note of Triumph, was broadcast coast to coast on May 8, 1945, the day Germany surrendered....

For me, a single anecdote captures the essence of his humanity. We were walking on a sidewalk in West Los Angeles on our way to lunch when an old woman approached us and asked for money. I hesitated, but Norman reached in his pocket and handed her a couple of dollars. As we continued walking, he said, “I’ve read that maybe 40 percent of them aren’t genuine. But why take the chance?”

Norman Corwin, poet of the airwaves and USC prof, dies at 101 *