January 27, 2003
CanadaFreePress columnist John Thompson recently reminded me of the age-old truism about how those who truly love what they do and eccentrics seeming to live the longest. Thompson, his brother Brian and myself seem to fit the category. Not only do we love our work, but each of us would have to own up to being even a tad eccentric.
The same could be said for one of the people I admire the most, Reed Irvine. One of his country’s leading media critics, the Washington-based Irvine suffered a near-fatal heart attack the week before last.
Of the many who wrote about it, WorldNetDaily put it best--"Nemesis of liberal press, Reed Irvine recovers at his office."
Irvine’s son, Don, executive secretary of his dad’s watchdog group, Accuracy in Media (AIM) said his 80-year-old boss was back at his desk within the week--against doctors’ orders.
"He is being stubbornly well," Don Irvine said. Irvine senior was in the office until his son forced him out, limiting him to four hours. "Left to his own devices, he would be here 10 to 12 hours a day."
The reappearance of Reed Irvine in his office within only days of a near-fatal heart attack is so, well, Reed Irvine.
A unique combination of tenacity and pluck, Irvine has been going to the office ever since he opened it in 1969.
This thorn in the side of the mainline media has never believed in taking the day off.
While so many others complain about media bias, the persistent founder of AIM struck out to do something about it.
Over the years, the ire of countless media Pooh-Bahs, broadcasters, editors and reporters, all of whom vehemently deny his charge that their work is tainted with a liberal bias, did nothing to stop Reed Irvine in his tracks.
They may have cussed him, tried to ridicule or write him off, but in the end they never could ignore him.
Several years ago, CNN founder Ted Turner asked to be invited to one of Irvine’s media events and came with his wife at the time, Jane Fonda. He’s had constructive dialogue with former New York Times Chairman and CEO Arthur Ochs "Punch" Sulzberger and rhetorical jousts with former Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee.
Actor Charlton Heston is a personal friend.
The rich and powerful of the journalism world did little to awe Irvine who will continue his critiques of them so long as he perceives bias.
When Irvine started AIM, friends and foe alike predicted the organization would go nowhere fast.
Today, in addition to a weekly syndicated column and daily radio commentary called Media Monitor, he gives about 60 speeches a year.
This spry little guy who was supposed to go nowhere, is a frequent guest on TV news programs including Crossfire, PBS News Hour, Nightline, Nightwatch, Good Morning America, Viewpoint and The Larry King Show.
Through it all, he never lost his sense of self. He retains the original humility with which he started, and he responds with a chuckle whenever he is referred to as a virtual media icon.
A probing mind and digging in search of the elusive truth have kept him looking much younger than his chronological years.
Blessed with a sense of humour, I found him to be refreshingly self-deprecating when I visited him in Washington this time last year.
Anyone who knows Reed Irvine will tell you that he looks forward to getting up and going to the office as much at age 80 as he did at age 40.
Reed Irvine lives each day to the fullest, and continues to be "stubbornly well". His legend lives forever.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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