Ian, Alison and will. And five grandchildren. Joining us is Judy woodruff, Jeffrey brown, and Linda Winslow, former executive producer of this program. They all worked with robin over many years. First, my sympathies to each of you on the loss of your dear friend. Judy, I know robin for you was not just a treasured colleague, he was an inspiration. In what ways? Judy< H -- Judy: He was, and I have to say I am heartbroken for those who knew robin. He was not only one of the most important mentors in my life, he was a dear friend. I talked to his son Ian today who said right up until the end of his life, robin was following the news. He said he insisted on talking about what was in the news literally right up until the last day. That was the consummate news man. That is who robin was. He is the reason I joined the newshour. When he and Jim expanded it, made it the newshour in 1983, they had this amazing chemistry. They were not only extraordinary journalists, they had this magic between the two of them. I can tell you it was so much so that when just a few months into the newshour -- and I was still getting my feet wet, Jim had a heart attack and I was asked to fill in for a few months, and I could not have done it without robin. Robin gave me the confidence to sit at the desk and keep going. Yes, he was a mentor, an inspiration for his entire life. Geoff: How did robin influence you as a journalist and leave a real imprint on your work? Jeffrey: Profoundly. Like Judy and Linda, I have been hearing from colleagues all day long who recall stories and the gratitude that we all feel. For me, it's simple but profound. He was the exemplar. He was the model. I met him when I was young. And as you often are when you are young, you are trying to figure out what you want to do them in this case will kind of journalist could I be and what kind of journalism could I do? There was robin. I distinctly remember -- and this goes back more than 30 years -- sitting at the table with him for our editorial meeting and thinking to myself, where else would I want to be but listening to him talk about the news, think about what we would be doing that night? He had the most capacious mind. He was interested in everything. World affairs, literature, and he brought all of that to bear on the news and it had an incredible impact on all of us. You are lucky in life to know a few people that have that kind of effect. I can say without any question I would not be sitting here today without the influence of robin Macneil. I dearly admired and loved him. Geoff: Does that resonate with you? Linda: Absolutely. We all knew the same man. He was a mentor and colleague but also a great, fun human being to be around. I remember a trip we took, we were covering the Reagan- gorbachev summit in Moscow in '88. There was an awful lot of interviewing to be done about submarine launched ballistic missiles. He insisted at one point we would go out and interview the soviet Russian poet, because that is the kind of guy he was. That is who he was most interested in talking to as long as he was in Russia. He did a spectacular interview, but he also stuck to his guns on the other stuff. We had some fun with his former colleagues at NBC, who were up on the roof of our hotel, having a much more lavish meal then we were in our work. And robin managed to go up and catch some free caviar for all of us, which I will always be grateful to him for. [Laughter] Geoff: Help us understand the working relationship and friendship he shared with Jim Lehrer. Linda: It was truly unique. That is one of the things that resonated with everyone I talked to today. Because of the friendship, they created an atmosphere of respect for each other, and having each other's backs. There was never any concern about being knifed in the back by your colleague, or colleagues. As a result, we worked in an environment where we respected the audience, as he said in that piece, and respected each other and respected the staff as well as the news, and the newsmakers and guests on the program. Everyone was treated equally. Geoff: Tell us more about the early days, what it was like working alongside Jim and robin. Jeffrey: The thing that really strikes me, I want to refer to that memoir that robinrote called "Wordstruck." Robin was words struck. It was even his email address. The man was besotted with words. He loved writing them. He loved speaking them. He loved the story of them. He loved the geography of them, and therefore those two wonderful documentaries he did about the story of English and American. And that showed up in the journalism. If you are a person who loves to go out into the world and you are interested in all kinds of things and want to tell stories, and you have this capacity to use words, to write them and tell those stories, and then you have this incredible voice -- I remember Jim would always say that robin could read the phone book and make it sound like great literature, which was true. But he also had the ability to use words to practically turn journalism into a kind of literature. You ask about what it was like working with him, that is what it was like, because you saw that interest in the world but also the ability to convey it. When I talk to people and think about the impact on my own life, and I hope my own work, that is what comes through, that love of telling stories, that love of using words and love of reaching out to talk to people that way. Geoff: Judy, amna is traveling on assignment today, but we traded messages earlier about how robin's influence, his sober approach to the news, the pursuit of truth above all else, how that is evident in the work we do. As we wrap up this conversation, I would like to invite you to way and on that. How does his legacy manifest in this program? Judy: It is manifest in so many ways. I'm not at all surprised to hear that you and amna were trading messages about it as she is overseas. Robin just exuded the kind of excellence in journalism, the belief that journalism can make a difference, the belief frankly that journalists should not take ourselves too seriously. I can't tell you the number of times I would be talking to him and he reminded journalism is about the stories we are covering and not about the person doing the reporting. And that has been such an important part of the newshour you those -- the newshour ethos, that the newshour is about reporting on the most important things happening, and sharing that with the American people, with our audience. Robin believed that to his very core. He had the kind of integrity that you have to imagine in many ways today. He set an example that just by his being there, doing his job, the rest of us knew that was the gold standard. And he was supportive always of the rest of us. I always knew robin had my back. The chemistry that he and Jim had together, I call it a magic pixie dust that made the program what it is, and that will make sure this is a program that endures for a long, long time to come. Geoff: Judy woodruff, Jeffrey brown, Linda Winslow, our thanks to each of you for sharing your memories and special connections to robin Macneil. We reshape it. As we mourn his loss, we invite you to share your memories of Robert Macneil on our website, pbs.org/newshour. ♪♪
