Anchored A Journalist's Search for Truth

HONORED AS A NOTABLE 100 BOOK IN THE 2021 SHELF UNBOUND BEST INDIE BOOK COMPETITION

Mort Crim has reported on major conflicts around the world for more than four decades and was a major inspiration for Will Ferrell's performance in the movie Anchorman. Crim's memoir takes readers behind the camera to show what life was like when the local anchorman was as revered as the professional athlete, and just as overpaid. It was a glamorous life, working alongside some of journalism's legends, like Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Dan Rather, and Ted Koppel.

The son of an evangelical minister in a conservative church, Crim suffered his first crisis of faith at the age of 15. Despite nagging questions, Crim eventually followed his father's path into ministry. But the more he delved into the Bible, the more his faith was shaken. Unable to defend things he wasn't sure of from the pulpit, Crim left the ministry for a career in journalism, determined to pursue truth. After a four-year stint in the Air Force, he earned his master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University, and by the age of 30, had made it to New York—the epicenter of his profession.

As a national correspondent for ABC, Crim anchored the network's top-rated morning radio show and covered America's newly-developing manned space program. When Neil Armstrong took that first step on the moon, it was Crim's voice that described the historic event for millions around the world.

At the urging of Walter Cronkite, Crim moved from network radio into the heady world of television news. At KYW in Philadelphia, Mort Crim was paired with the late Jessica Savitch, and their anchor team spawned the idea for Will Ferrell's Anchorman movies. Crim's journey for truth will resonate with anyone raised in a cocoon of certainty that they felt compelled to question.

Mort Crim is a broadcast journalist and author who worked for more than forty years in both local and national radio and television news. He’s covered presidential summits, space flights, a Mideast war, and for five years was Paul Harvey’s regular vacation back-up. He was a correspondent with ABC, based in New York, a news anchor at WHAS-TV in Louisville, KWY-TV in Philadelphia, WBBM-TV, Chicago, and for twenty years was senior anchor at WDIV-TV, Detroit, where he also was a national correspondent for the parent company, Post-Newsweek Television. His nationally-syndicated radio series, Second Thoughts, was on the air for fifteen years, and at its peak was carried by more than 1,300 U.S. and Canadian radio stations, and overseas on the Armed Forces Radio Network. Among his more illustrious credits are the two Anchorman movie satires for which Will Ferrell credits Mort and co-anchor Jessica Savitch with providing the “inspiration.” Mort holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University, four honorary doctorates, and scores of news awards including six Emmys. He was among the first honorees inducted into Northwestern University’s Hall of Achievement and is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award from the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where he earned his bachelor’s degree. He has been inducted into Broadcast Halls of Fame in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois—his home state.