About the First Paragraph of Your Obituary ...
The ruined life of Charles Van Doren
July 2008 By Denny Hatch
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In the News
After 49 Years, Charles Van Doren TalksFinally, Charles Van Doren can talk about “it.” “It” is his career-ending involvement in the great quiz show scandal of 1959, which reduced him from a glamorous Time magazine cover boy and “Today” show regular to tabloid humiliation as one of the most reviled men in America. After pleading guilty to perjury for lying to a grand jury about the rigged NBC game show, “Twenty One,” Van Doren confessed at a congressional hearing in October 1959. “I was involved, deeply involved, in a deception,” Van Doren told Congress. “I have deceived my friends, and I had millions of them.” The day he testified, he lost his jobs at NBC and at Columbia University.
—Alex Beam, International Herald Tribune, July 21, 2008
For 50 years, Charles Van Doren has been consigned to living hell. He’s one of the few notable Americans (along with Bill Clinton) who knows that he screwed up so badly that the first paragraph of his obituary will deal with a major scandal rather than his accomplishments. Three examples of unfortunate first paragraphs:
Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States—a polarizing figure who won a record landslide and resigned in disgrace 21 months later—died last night in a New York City hospital four days after suffering a stroke. He was 81.
—The Washington Post, April 23, 1994
Spiro T. Agnew, the tart-tongued political combatant who fired up the American electorate but then had to resign as Richard M. Nixon’s vice president in the face of a kickback scandal, died on Tuesday at the age of 77.
—The New York Times, Sept. 19, 1996
Col. Aaron Burr, died at Staten Island, on Tuesday afternoon the 13th inst. In the 81st year of his age. Few men in this country have excited more of the public attention than the deceased, in despite of the dark cloud which shrouded his once fair fame; for all admired the bravery and talents which rendered him such an important auxiliary in the early struggles of our country, and lamented that they were perverted by unhallowed ambition.
—Niles’ Weekly, Baltimore, Sept. 17, 1836
Van Doren was a lovely guy. It didn’t have to happen.
A Sad Memory ...
Van Doren’s confession in The New Yorker was, for me, yet another bite into a Proustian madeleine cake.
In 1956, I was a student at Columbia College and working part time as a page at the NBC television studios. One day after squeezing fat tourists into thin seats for the daytime quiz show, “Tic-Tac-Dough,” I was astonished to see my English teacher, Charles Van Doren, walk on stage and be introduced by host Jack Barry as one of the contestants.
Charles Van Doren’s father, Mark, was a renowned poet, critic and Columbia professor of literature. His uncle, Carl Van Doren, won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Benjamin Franklin. Carl’s ex-wife, Irita Van Doren, was literary editor of The New York Herald Tribune. The Van Dorens were American literati aristocrats.
Takeaway Points to Consider:
* All of us have been tempted by attractive offers that could compromise our integrity. Before saying yes, think about the first paragraph of your obituary.* It may seem fanciful to equate Charles Van Doren’s career to that of Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew and Aaron Burr. But in the 50s, he was an American icon beloved and admired by millions and held up to children as a role model.
* Helping a child make sense of Charles Van Doren’s crash and burn was more painful than explaining Pee-Wee Herman’s 1991 arrest for public masturbation at an adult movie house while watching the XXX-rated film, “Nurse Nancy.” After all, Pee Wee Herman was weird to start with, while Van Doren was a straight arrow—the ideal son.
* Right now, residing in jails around the country is a gaggle of greedy executives whose ruined lives will be summed up in the first paragraph of their obituaries. Example:
Kenneth L. Lay, the son of a Baptist preacher in rural Missouri who rose to the pinnacle of corporate America as head of Enron before becoming a symbol of corporate excess, died yesterday in Aspen, Colo. He was 64.
—The New York Times, July 6, 2005
* I am reminded of the great American wit and playwright George S. Kaufman, who was a championship bridge player and frequented the Regency and Cavendish clubs in New York. At one point Kaufman became apoplectic at how badly his partner had played a hand. “How would you have played it?” the man asked balefully as the cards were being shuffled. “Under an assumed name,” snapped Kaufman. If I were Charles Van Doren, I might well have opted to spend the rest of my life under an assumed name.
Web Sites Related to Today's Edition:
Prepared Statement Read by Charles Van Doren to the House Committee, Nov. 2, 1959http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6566/
Full Testimony and Follow-up Questions by the House Committee, Nov. 2, 1959
(requires a $3.95 fee to nonsubscribers to The New York Times)
http://tinyurl.com/6ggg7d
“Twenty-One”—Charles Van Doren, Jack Barry & Herb Stempel
http://tinyurl.com/5sp5ml
“Time and Again,” NBC Documentary on Quiz Shows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcVK8BDZT9Y
Janet Maslin’s Review of “Quiz Show” in The New York Times
http://tinyurl.com/5wlgs4
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