I'm not sure what to say about my grandfather right now so I'll post this article from the Washington Post
Friday, April 20, 2001; Page B06
James L. Snyder, 76, a broadcast journalist for more than 40 years who while working for the Post-Newsweek Stations directed landmark changes in the format, organization, and operation of Washington radio and television properties, died April 19 at Buckingham's Choice retirement community in Adamstown, Md.
He died of complications related to strokes and heart disease.
Mr. Snyder became vice president for news at Post-Newsweek Stations in 1968. His first assignment was to organize and launch the successful and immensely popular all-news format at WTOP AM radio, which at that time was owned by The Washington Post Co.
He became news director of WTOP-TV in 1969 and began building a news organization that became a pace setter in local television news. He paired Max Robinson and Gordon Peterson, and he was among the first to put an African American woman broadcaster on Washington television. Many of the people he hired in the 1970s are still with the station, which has changed ownership twice and is now Gannett's WUSA-TV.
In 1978, when WTOP was swapped by Post-Newsweek Stations for WDIV-TV in Detroit, Mr. Snyder moved to Detroit as news director there. He returned to Washington and Post-Newsweek corporate headquarters in 1982 as consultant to the news departments in the Post-Newsweek stations in Miami, Jacksonville, Detroit and Hartford. From 1969 until his retirement, he also was executive producer of the weekly news discussion program "Agronsky and Company," which became Inside Washington in the late 1980s.
Mr. Snyder retired in 1991 as a corporate consultant to news departments in Post-Newsweek television stations,
In 1991 and 1992, he traveled to Romania and Bulgaria for the International Media Fund, lecturing on American television news to groups interested in establishing a free broadcasting system.
In 1992, he became the first recipient of the Leonard Ziedenberg First Amendment Award. He received the Board of Governors Award of the Washington chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1977.
Mr. Snyder was born in Pittsburgh. During World War II, he served in the Navy in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
He began his broadcast career in the late 1940s when he was a college student. He worked for radio stations in Pittsburgh before relocating to Washington in 1959 as chief of the Washington bureau for Westinghouse Broadcasting.
In that capacity, he covered the final years of the Eisenhower administration, the Kennedy-Nixon presidential race, political conventions and the Kennedy assassination and funeral. In 1965, he became the Washington producer for the "CBS Morning News." Later, he was the Washington producer for the "CBS Evening News" with Walter Cronkite. Mr. Snyder left CBS in 1968 to join Post-Newsweek Stations.
Mr. Snyder was a volunteer reader for the visually impaired for Washington Ear, a member of St. Jane de Chantal Catholic Church in Bethesda and its St. Vincent de Paul Society, a golfer and a member of Kenwood Golf and Country Club.
Mr. Snyder, a longtime resident of Bethesda, moved to Buckingham's Choice in January 2000.
Survivors include his wife of 50 years, Anne Marie of Adamstown; five children, Mary S. Martin of Arlington, John P. Snyder of Frederick, James W. Snyder of Silver Spring, Catherine Snyder Charlip of Bethesda and Owen B. Snyder of Dedham, Mass.; and eight grandchildren. A daughter, Margaret Snyder Fugger, died in 1975.
posted by Patrick at 1:55 AM
My knee slipped out of joint on friday while bowling. I felt a pop and then I was on the ground, but I got a strike. It hurts to walk up and down stairs now. I hate being a gimp.
posted by Patrick at 9:19 PM
From the police beat in today's flat hat (william and mary's student newspaper): "Saturday March 31 - A non-student was arrested for indecent exposure and carrying a concealed weapon on confusion corner." I want to know where the weapon was concealed.
posted by Patrick at 1:14 AM
I wandered through Colonial Williamsburg today with Katie. While we were there a young couple asked us to take they're picture infront of one of the houses. I know they would have been happy with a quick snapshot, but I took a second to compose the shot anyway. It reminded me how much I miss taking photos and working in the dark room. Sadly William and Mary's dark room is a pit and I don't have time. I'll have to help James put his dark room back together so I can use it over the summer.
posted by Patrick at 4:50 PM
Sometimes I wonder if my roommate forgets I live here too. I have my music going through my speakers and he just turns his on at a higher volume. Last night his fan broke. One of the blades broke off so it doesn't spin properly and makes an extremely annoying clicking sound. Naturally I shut it off before I went insane. Andrew didn't like this. He started tapping out the rythm of the clicking on the bed. Then I sweat he threw a couple of mini tantrums. Eventually he crawled out of bed and turned the fan back on. I waited 15 minutes before shutting it off again. He had fallen asleep by then, but I couldn't get back to sleep until five minutes before my alarm went off. I think there's only four weeks lefts. I can make it...
posted by Patrick at 12:14 AM
My creative writing professor told the class today that we had to keep taking writing courses in college. We owe it to ourselves and the world. The scary part is she believes it.
posted by Patrick at 11:59 PM
I just made my schedule for next semester.
Monday
Piano
Tuesday
ethics
tonal composition I
British literature 1660-1744
Advanced creative writing
wednesday
Piano
tonal composition I
thursday
the same as the tuesday schedule minus creative writing
Friday
Piano
I'm also signed up for private lessons in Jazz guitar. I really do wonder if my dad thinks I'm wasting his money.
posted by Patrick at 4:48 PM
I think I've officially run out of patience for this semester. My roommate can't tie his shoes without me snarling at him for making too much noise. Granted he is the loudest human being I have ever encountered, but I'm just getting silly now. I think I need more sleep, but I'm finding that between a mild case of insomnia and my roommates morning routine (see here I go again), more than four hours is impossible during the week. It's an odd couple from hell scenario. One roommate never thinks he's being inconsiderate and takes offense if you point this out to him and the other is annoyed by everything. I guess we do get points for never coming to blows. Although I think the new fuck off attitude I can't seem to get rid of might lead to trouble. There's only a month left. I can behave... in theory.
posted by Patrick at 11:51 PM 