Brian Lamb
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| Brian Lamb | |
 Brian Lamb speaking at a USSYP event
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| Born | October 9, 1941 Indiana, U.S. |
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| Occupation | CEO, C-SPAN |
| Spouse | Victoria Martin (2005–present) |
Brian Patrick Lamb (born October 9, 1941 in Indiana) helped found the C-SPAN television channels in the United States in 1979, and has been chief executive officer since its founding. C-SPAN airs live coverage of proceedings of the United States Congress as well as other public affairs programming. Lamb hosts C-SPAN's morning call-in and interview show,Washington Journal, once a week, and a weekly one-hour program called Q&A in which he interviews people from a wide range of backgrounds, such as journalists, teachers, politicians, authors, and technology innovators. Q&A airs every Sunday night at 8 and 11 p.m. ET. [1] From 1989 to 2004 he hosted a weekly Sunday night program, Booknotes, on which he interviewed authors of recent books.
He is the editor of several collections of Booknotes interviews. Lamb edits out his side of the questioning, leaving something of an essay by the interviewee:
- Booknotes on American Character: People, Politics, and Conflict in American History
- Booknotes: Stories from American History
- Booknotes: America's Finest Authors on Reading, Writing, and the Power of Ideas
- Booknotes Life Stories: Notable Biographers on the People Who Shaped America
Lamb is also the author of Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?: A Tour of Presidential Gravesites.
According to a Washington Post profile [2], Lamb has never spoken the words "Brian Lamb" on the air and forbids C-SPAN hosts to say their own names, under the notion that this discipline removes ego from the C-SPAN formula, at least from the host's side.
Lamb was born in Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity [3]. Later, he joined the U.S. Navy. While in the Navy, he served at the White House during the Johnson administration. He also served in the Pentagon's public affairs office, and later in the Office of Telecommunications Policy during the Nixon administration. In addition to his executive branch experience Lamb also spent time on Capitol Hill, serving as press secretary for Sen. Peter H. Dominick (R-CO).
On September 26, 2005, it was reported that Lamb married a hometown friend named Victoria Martin.[citation needed]
On February 27, 2003, Lamb received the National Humanities Medal.
On November 5, 2007, Lamb received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. [4]
[edit] Quotes
"How long's he been dead?" question asked to Milton Friedman about Friedrich Hayek, an example of Lamb's unique and direct interviewing style.
"Who was Abraham Lincoln?" question asked to Lincoln biographer David Herbert Donald about Abraham Lincoln, another example of a direct, no-frills style. Donald's first response was "Oh, my. What a question!"
Lamb once stated: "Barbara Walters treated me with disdain. I'll never forget that." [5]
[edit] External links
- White House Award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
- White House National Humanities Medal Winners for 2003
- Truman Award Lamb biography
- Washington Post Brian Lamb's Flock
- Business Forward 1999 interview with Brian Lamb
- C-SPAN Lamb speech "Debunking the Myths of C-SPAN"
- Reason 1996 interview
- CBS Marketwatch C-Span's Brian Lamb is not what you think
- Leslie Milk and Ellen Ryan. "Washingtonians of the Year 2007: Brian Lamb", Washingtonian, January 1, 2008.
