Ann Katz Festival: Martin Fletcher, 'Teachers: The Ones I Can't Forget'

Considered for decades the “gold standard of TV war correspondents” by Anderson Cooper, Martin Fletcher was an NBC News Correspondent and bureau chief in Tel Aviv for nearly 30 years. Teachers are the people Fletcher met throughout his work as a news correspondent, often on the worst day of their lives. He watched as they picked up the pieces following personals tragedy and discovered the invaluable lessons of carrying on, no matter the circumstances. Through intimate profiles, Martin Fletcher’s Teachers details the struggles of everyday people in extraordinary times — war, revolution, natural disasters, and yes, life. Fletcher’s writing is uplifting as he examines the truth of resilience despite hardship. These are the people he sought out in his international reporting, detailing their woes while celebrating their will to survive and recover.

Teachers offers a unique take on reporting, as it features a travelling photon exhibit that Fletcher created to accompany the book. Each chapter is paired with an extraordinary digital montage to illustrate the stories take directly from his reporting from NBC news programs. At a time when news coverage is often dismissed as fake or biased, Teachers is a welcome reminder of the integrity, devotion, and empathy that goes into true reporting of the world. As Tom Brokaw wrote, “Fletcher has a calling.”

Fletcher has won five Emmys and a Columbia University DuPont Award — a Pulitzer for work in television — as well as awards from the Overseas Press Club and Royal Society of Television.

This is a Jewish Book Council program. Fletcher will be interviewed by WTHR Weekend Anchor Jennie Runevitch.

Sponsored by Congregation Beth Shalom.