From the Inside Flap
A Voice of His Time is the long past due biography of Charles H. Crutchfield, a man hailed as "the pioneer of commercial broadcasting." Son of a cotton broker, born in Hope, Arkansas and educated in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Crutchfield quickly rose to prominence in the rapidly growing industry of radio and television. His story is told by former reporter Jerry Shinn, no stranger to the important figures who shaped Charlotte, North Carolina, city of the New South.
Blessed with a melodius voice and a daring demeanor, Crutchfield came of age right as radio filtered into homes across America. After a short-lived tenure at Wofford College, he bounced around fledgling radio stations across the South -- from Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville, South Carolina to Augusta, Georgia -- finally landing at Charlotte's WBT in 1933. Crutchfield and his alter ego, Charlie Briarhopper, soon became fixtures on the airwaves. Even better, he was poised to jump into the next big thing, television, just as it leapt onto the forefront. In 1945, at only age 33, Crutchfield was named general manager of WBT, the youngest man to hold such a post in the nation at that time.
The love of his life, high school sweetheart Jacquelin Williams, aka Pee Wee, at his side, Crutchfield was more than just a voice; his wide ranging talents took him far, from covering FDR on the campaign trail to announcing college football on the field, from the boardroom to the Berlin Wall, from the Kremlin to the Nixon White House.
It is a book about being born at the right time and with a zest for the new and unknown, about a "voice" that had the uncanny knack of engaging one on one with a vast audience from behind the microphone, laying the groundwork for the power of the medium.
From the Back Cover
From quick-thinking creator of the hillbilly Briarhoppers to blunt-spoken critic of CBS News, Charles Crutchfield's colorful career tracked and often influenced the course of radio and television in the Carolinas. He has long deserved a biography, and readers couldn't wish for a more insightful and enlightening one than A Voice of His Time.
--Lew Powell
I can't say that I ever really knew Charlie Crutchfield back when I covered TV for The Charlotte Observer but thanks to Jerry Shinn's well written and exceedingly detailed book I now feel that I do. Shinn does an impressive job of tracing Crutchfield's remarkable and diverse life, from childhood to corporate executive, all against the backdrop of some of the world's most dramatic historical events. This is an extremely well-crafted book.
--Ron Aldridge, TV critic for The Charlotte Observer, 1975-1980
Charles Crutchfield, in my mind, was the father of modern radio and television broadcasting in the Carolinas, and that alone makes a great story. But Jerry Shinn has gone way beyond that to capture the essence of the man - one of the most genuine human beings I've ever known, a visionary who cared deeply about those of us who worked with and for him, and for the audiences we served. A superb piece of research and writing.
--Robert Inman, former WBTV News anchor and author of Home Fires Burning.
