Scoop: The Evolution of a Southern Reporter - Hardcover

"Jack Nelson was a champion of 'openness' and held himself to the same standards he expected of government and politicians. It's not surprising, then, that he was the first journalist to allow C-SPAN cameras to capture an inside view of his Washington bureau. Jack was entirely comfortable letting the public see how the news sausage was made--a spirit captured once again in his revealing posthumous memoir, Scoop."

--Brian P. Lamb, C-SPAN founder and chairman

"Jack Nelson was an eyewitness to one of the most significant political and economic transformations of the twentieth century. He was also a daring reporter, unafraid to confront powerful political leaders who resisted that change with force. In writing this book, Jack shares a piece of southern, American, and journalism history that will inspire generations yet unborn."

--Rep. John Lewis

"In his new memoir, Scoop: The Evolution of a Southern Reporter, Jack Nelson describes his remarkable reporting career. In this intriguing account, as I knew him to be, Jack Nelson was inquisitive, incisive, and fearless. He went into unknown and sometimes dangerous territories in Georgia and was never hesitant to arouse the animosity of special interests or the politically powerful.

"Although he was a personal friend of mine, he was never hesitant to criticize me severely, and I think sometimes maybe excessively. But when Jack Nelson wrote something, anybody who read it would know it was accurate, balanced, and truthful."

--Former President Jimmy Carter

"Whether he was raking through the muck of government coverage, tracking George Wallace and Martin Luther King Jr., or bringing presidents to their knees, Jack Nelson's drive and personal courage made him an unmatched journalist. From Gee's Bend, Alabama, and Bogalusa, Louisiana, to Washington's marble halls, this memoir stands as an engaging and insightful journey into America's struggles with itself. It is a gift."

--Gwen Ifill, moderator of Washington Week

"Horatio Alger never invented a hero more talented or indomitable than Jack Nelson was in real life. Jack started as a newsboy and became one of twentieth-century America's greatest journalists. This cannot-put-it-down book--brilliantly edited by his wife, Barbara Matusow--tells his unforgettable story."

--Gene Roberts, winner, with Hank Klibanoff, of the Pulitzer Prize in History for their book The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation. Roberts was executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer and managing editor of the New York Times.

"A terrific memoir by one of America's toughest and greatest reporters."

--Bob Woodward

"Jack Nelson and my father had an interesting relationship that early on found them as spirited adversaries. I know that as time passed my father developed a deep respect and affection for Jack Nelson, and the correspondence my father had with Jack in his later years was very meaningful to him. Scoop: The Evolution of a Southern Reporter is riveting and will take the reader on a journey back in time as it chronicles social changes in our country and culture. Many of Jack Nelson's revelations in his writing, I believe, stirred the conscience of our nation as his voice called for justice and to nurture our common humanity. To fully understand how far we have come as a nation and people Scoop is a must-read."

--George Wallace, Jr., author of Governor George Wallace, The Man You Never Knew by the Man Who Knew Him Best

"Jack Nelson was one of the journalists who were responsible for the collapse of de jure segregation. Southerners, born into a long-segregated society, ultimately recognized that system was indefensible and undesirable. Desegregation happened sooner because of the perceptive and persistent writings of first-class reporters like Jack Nelson."

--Haley Barbour, former governor of Mississippi

"While he was given 'Scoop' as a nickname when a cub reporter, Jack Nelson grew to be a lion in journalistic circles by scoring one major scoop after another. He became one of the twentieth century's best--and most respected--reporters, and this posthumous memoir is testament to the moral force he brought to his profession. Though Jack died before he completed the book, it has a dramatic end: his feud with the feared FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who called Nelson a 'jackal.' Jack never backed down; he described Hoover as a 'chiseling, vindictive autocrat.'"

--Curtis Wilkie, author of The Fall of the House of Zeus

"This story is bold and brilliant--just as Jack Nelson was. We miss him and miss the open, honest journalism he practiced. Jack was one of that small band who told the country what the South was really like--at risk to his own life and limb."

--Julian Bond, Board Chairman Emeritus, NAACP

Jack Nelson (1929-2009), former Washington Bureau Chief of the Los Angeles Times, won a Pulitzer Prize (1960), the Drew Pearson Award for Investigative Reporting (1975), and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award (1999). Author or coauthor of several books, he resided with his wife, journalist Barbara Matusow.|Barbara Matusow is a veteran writer, a former television producer, and a contributing editor with Washingtonian Magazine. An award-winning journalist, she is the author of the bestselling The Evening Stars: The Making of the Network New Anchor.