Neal Conan

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Neal Joseph Conan III (November 26, 1949Template:SpndAugust 10, 2021) was an American radio journalist, producer, editor, and correspondent. He worked for National Public Radio for more than 36 years<ref name = "Hawaii Public Radio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was the senior host of its talk show Talk of the Nation.<ref name= "NPR Bio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Conan hosted Talk of the Nation from 2001 to June 27, 2013, when the program was discontinued; with the discontinuation, NPR announced that Conan would depart the network.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life

Conan was born in Beirut, Lebanon,<ref name = "Hawaii Public Radio" /><ref name= "NPR Bio" /><ref>Template:Cite interview</ref> on November 26, 1949.<ref name="NYT obit">Template:Cite news</ref> His father, Neal Jr., worked as a physician and headed the medical center at the American University of Beirut; his mother, Theodora (Blake), was a housewife. His family relocated to Saudi Arabia when Conan was a child, before moving to New Jersey and Manhattan. He studied at Loomis Chaffee School and Riverdale Country School.<ref name="NYT obit"/>

Career

Conan entered the field of radio broadcasting at age 17, volunteering at Pacifica Radio station WBAI-FM in New York City. He then worked at public radio station WRVR-FM, where he met Robert Siegel. At 27, Conan joined National Public Radio. Conan's initial assignment for NPR was as a producer of All Things Considered. Later, he covered the White House, the Pentagon, and the Department of State for the network.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

During the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqi Republican Guard detained Conan for a week.<ref name = "Hawaii Public Radio" /><ref name= missing>Template:Cite news</ref> He and Chris Hedges of The New York Times were reporting on a Shi'a rebellion centered in Basra, Iraq.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> For five years, Conan hosted Weekly Edition: The Best of NPR News.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2000, Conan took a break from his work as a broadcaster to serve as the stadium play-by-play baseball announcer for Aberdeen Arsenal. A year later, he published Play by Play: Baseball, Radio and Life in the Last Chance League, which described his experience.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On September 10, 2001, Conan began his work as host of Talk of the Nation.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2008, investigative reporter James Ridgeway covered the Democratic primary elections for Mother Jones—in one episode, Mike Gravel was filmed in New Hampshire during a phone interview with Conan for Talk of the Nation.<ref>The Outsider World news, The Guardian, James Ridgeway, January 3, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2021.</ref>

NPR announced that it was ending the 12-year run of Talk of the Nation on March 29, 2013, stating that Conan would "step away from the rigors of daily journalism."<ref name = "TotN end">Template:Cite news</ref> On February 12, 2014, an interview aired on KUAZ 89.1, Tucson, Arizona's NPR affiliate,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> during which Conan explained that ending Talk of the Nation was not a decision he was involved in or agreed with, citing its status as one of NPR's most popular shows.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He went on to join Hawaii Public Radio as a news analyst on June 8, 2014.<ref name = "Hawaii Public Radio" /> He produced a thrice-weekly series called Pacific News Minute between November 30, 2017, and October 31, 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In January 2017, Conan launched a radio show and podcast entitled Truth, Politics, and Power, which focused on the first presidency of Donald Trump. Conan interviewed experts weekly about a different issue arising from the 2016 election and the president's administration.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

In 1982, Conan married Liane Hansen, a long-time host of NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. Together, they had two children: Connor and Casey. Hansen briefly co-hosted Talk of the Nation with Conan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While on a farewell tour of NPR stations, Hansen revealed in April 2011 that she and Conan were divorcing.<ref name="Divorce">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Conan was later in a domestic partnership with American travel writer, poet, and essayist Gretel Ehrlich, who survived him at his death.<ref name="NYT obit"/> They married in 2019.

Conan moved to Hawi, Hawaii after he left NPR and farmed macadamia nuts on 5.5 acres of land.<ref name = "Hawaii Public Radio" /> He enjoyed scuba diving after he settled in Hawaii.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Conan was a friend of comics writer Chris Claremont. As a result, he was featured a number of times as a sympathetic journalist in stories Claremont wrote for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, such as the 1988 X-Men storyline "The Fall of the Mutants".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Claremont, Chris (w), Silvestri, Marc (p), Green, Dan (i). The Uncanny X-Men #226–227 (Marvel Comics, February – March 1988).</ref> which often featured real life NPR engineer Manoli Wetherell as his cameraman.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Conan died on August 10, 2021, on his farm in Hāwī, Hawaii, as a result of glioblastoma, according to his son Connor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NYT obit"/> He was 71, having been diagnosed with a glioblastoma on his 70th birthday in November 2019.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards

During his time at All Things Considered, it won many awards as well, including the Washington Journalism ReviewTemplate:'s Best in the Business Award.<ref name= "NPR Bio" />

Publications

References

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