As I noted in Thursday's TMI blog, I grew up in a Cronkite household, but, even as a kid, I was a news junkie. I knew the top tier correspondents on the other networks, including Irving R. Levine at NBC.
He was a unique individual, not what we would call "telegenic." Bald, bow tie, glasses, professorial. Levine had the economics beat. The Los Angeles Times called Levine a pioneer in covering economic issues on television. Remember, this was a long time ago-- before whiz bang graphics could help illustrate complex economic stories.
Before talking money on the nightly news, Levine covered a variety of stories for the old International News Service and NBC Radio.
Levine retired from NBC in 1995. He was an occasioinal contributor to PBS until last year. He was one of the people who helped invent television news.
Irving R. Levine died Friday in Washington, DC. Cancer. He was 86.
